Sugar and Spice
by Kyandi-Akatensei
Summary: "I'm sweet alright...a sweet disaster." Ariadne Sinclair serves food with her own sweet touch, but when it comes to the competitive world of Totsuki Academy, she's about to take that sweet touch to a sinful level.
1. Welcome to Totsuki

_**Summary:**_ "I'm sweet alright...a sweet disaster." Ariadne Sinclair serves food with her own sweet touch, but when it comes to the competitive world of Totsuki Academy, she's about to take that sweet touch to a sinful level.

Author's Note: Greetings! For those of you who know me, I'm Kyandi-sama. For those of you who don't, welcome to the Kyandiacs! If you decide to stay, that is. I've been in love with this series for a long time now, but I had to do a lot of research to bring my OC, Ariadne, to life. I hope you enjoy her as much as I do. Compliments are greatly appreciated, constructive criticism is thanked, but please, don't flame me. If you feel like you must flame me...walk away. Save us both a lot of time and just walk away, please and thank you! With that said, please enjoy and review. I do not own Shokugeki no Soma!

Chapter 1 Welcome to Totsuki

Food.

Many never think twice about the food they eat. It was merely the fuel to energize their bodies. Others take food too seriously it might as well been life or death. Before the right chef, the world could be a vast, endless space filled with textures and flavors, some still yet to be discovered.

It was a world of endless possibilities and challenges.

And it was that thought, and the thought of surpassing his father, that brought Yukihira Souma to his current location.

Totsuki Academy.

By a stroke of what seemed like good fortune, Souma, after being failed by none other than Nakiri Erina during the entrance exam, had been granted entrance to the school. From what he heard, only one other person had managed to pass the exam, via another examiner, and had managed to enter along side him.

Now, about a month after the exam, Souma found himself at the entrance ceremony for the new school year.

"We'll proceed to give the award to the best of the year. Representative of the new first years, Nakiri Erina."

Erina stepped forward upon being introduced. As she stepped onto the stage and up to the podium, several of those among the crowd of students, gushed over her beauty and her renown as a top student. Erina accepted her award and promptly left the stage.

"We'll continue with the ceremonial address."

The next to step up on the stage was Erina's grandfather and the school's chairman, Nakiri Sanzaemon. Just the man's appearance was enough to intimidate the students before him, not to mention the nickname her had earned in his years in the culinary world.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Congratulations on entering the high school section!" he announced with a smile that surprised the students before him. "In your three years in the middle school section, you've deepened your knowledge about the basics of food preparing and its ingredients. You've had classes with cooking drills where you actually cooked and all sorts of lectures about cooking theory, nutrition, sanitation, agriculture, management, and now you're standing at the entrance to the high school section. But what will be tested now isn't your technique or knowledge, it's if you have the guts to live as a chef."

Sanzaemon raised a hand, pointing at the students before him, making them tense.

"Ninety-nine percent of you are sacrificial stones in order to polish the remaining one percent gems. Out of the eight hundred and twelve new first years, the number of students that advance to the second year is seventy-six. We'll mercilessly cast away incompetent and ordinary people. By the time the one thousand first years reach their second year they will become one hundred. To count the number of people that will graduate, one hand will be enough. You, you will become one of these handful of chefs! Devote to your studies. That's all!"

With that, Sanzaemon exited the stage and his assistant returned to finish the ceremony while the students were still fired up. She stepped back up to the podium, clearing her throat before she begun.

"Eeh, to finish, we'll introduce the two students who were admitted to the high school section."

When this was announced, Erina was reminded of Souma, and was grateful she would never have to see him again. A gratitude that only lasted for a few brief seconds before Souma stepped up on stage.

"Well...like, I'm sorry for being in this high place, hehe...I have to express my intentions, right? I'm beaten, do I really have to do this? Saying them on a stage is embarrassing." Souma remarked, the assistant yelling at him to just get on with it. "Then I'll keep it short. I'll say two or three things. Ermm...I'm Yukihira Souma. Truth be told, I only think of this academy as a stepping stone. I got admitted here unexpectedly, but I don't plan to lose to some bunch that has never stood in front of clients. Now that I'm in, I'll take the top. Best regards for the next three years."

With that, Souma finished his introduction with a bow. His response was not kind, the students yelling at him and calling him names. Souma ignored it as he walked off the stage, passing the other new student and turning to watch her as she strutted out on stage like she owned it, confidence brimming from every step she took.

The girl was only a few inches shorter than him with a full body figure, long legs, and a confidence that seemed to seep from her pores. It was her looks, though, that made him stop because he was sure he had never seen a girl that looked like her before. Her coloring was, most definitely, not Japanese.

Her skin was fair, her mid-back length hair an aqua blue in color, and her wide, doe-eyed eyes were an icy blue to match. She wore her hair all brushed over to the right side, the hair along the left side of her scalp, shaved to just beyond her ear. There was a smile on her dimpled, heart-shaped face, two piercings in each ear, and a rebellious look to her.

Then there was her school uniform and the modifications she had made to it.

The girl had taken the uniform given to her and had turned the button-down dress shirt into a backless shirt with a back so low that it showed off the strapless shirt underneath that matched her hair in color. She wore the blazer tied around her waist, had traded the knee-high socks for white, thigh-high stockings, and heeled, calf-high, black boots took place of the school issued shoes. To finish her look, she had taken the tie and had fashioned it into a hand band of sorts, the bow tied right at the shaved side of her head, and she wore the first two buttons on her shirt unbuttoned to show one of those stretchy, black chokers around her neck.

Souma watched as she walked up to the podium, giving the still fuming students before her, a wide smile. Stepping up to the podium, she leaned forward, crossing her arms on the podium, allowing her hair to fall over her right shoulder.

"Wow, that was...quite the introduce, huh?" she asked, her voice lightly accented with what Souma was sure was a French accent. "I hope you do not hold it against me as well. I am Sinclair Ariadne and I am from France. It is a pleasure to meet you all. As for my intentions for being here...I believe I will keep that to myself for a while longer. I do hope we can all prosper while challenging each other. I very much look forward to any and all challenges all of you can present me with, regardless of the outcomes. Please take care of me and challenge me in our time together. Thank you."

With that, she stood up straight and bowed to the now calm crowd, before she turned on her heel to leave the stage. She stepped off the stage at the end of an argument between Erina and Souma in which Erina stormed away, blowing Souma off. The girl who had introduced herself as Ariadne, came to a stop beside Souma.

"_Mon dieu_, what's up with her?" Ariadne asked.

"Don't know." Souma turned to Ariadne, grinning. "Hey. I'm Yukihira Souma."

"Sinclair Ariadne."

Ariadne took his hand, giving it a shake, a smile on her own lips. She didn't seem to be the least bit offended by what he had said when he was on stage.

"Nice introduction. You know they're all going to hate you now." Ariadne told him.

"Oh, well." Souma replied as they started walking. "And you?

"I liked your honesty. More people need it." she replied, shrugging her shoulders.

Souma had a feeling that the two of them were going to get along just fine.

They found out quick that they had the same class and, upon arriving, the teacher conducted a random lottery to break up the class into teams of two. Souma ended up with a meek girl by the name Tadokoro Megumi, who, he found out, would be expelled if she got one more bad grade. Ariadne, on the other hand, ended up paired with a guy who could only complain about Souma and his actions at the opening ceremony.

Ariadne shook her head as she tied a frilly apron on over a blue-to-red fade, sleeveless and shorts version of a chef's outfit that she was wearing. Her partner could complain all he wanted, but she had better things to do with her time and energy.

"Attention. Good morning, young apprentices." Ariadne looked up as their teacher, Roland Chapelle, walked into the room. "You're responsible to make delicacies from the moment you stand in the kitchen. For that, neither your experience nor position matter. In my classes, any dishes that can't take an "A"...will get an "E". Make sure to remember that."

_So it is straight to business, huh._ Ariadne thought.

It seemed about right for a school of Totsuki's standards, and, of course, she had heard of Chef Chapelle. He was an instructor so strict that, among the school staff, he had earned the name of the Chef-who-never-smiles. Ariadne would have her hands full, especially if her partner couldn't pull his own weight.

God, she hoped he could.

"Today's menu is Boeuf Bourguignon. A standard French dish." Ariadne almost cheered. It was a dish her mother had taught her from a very young age. "Just in case, I'll write down the recipe on the white board. The time limit is two hours! Submit your dishes as soon as you finish. Then...let's start. _Commencez a cuire_."

As soon as Chef Chapelle called a start, students begun to rush about. Ariadne's partner turned to her, looking her over.

"Please tell me you've made this dish before." he said. "Because I haven't had much experience with it."

"Of course! I am French, am I not?" Ariadne said, grinning. "But we're not using his recipe."

"What!? Are you trying to get us in trouble?!" the boy whispered.

"I am French, no? This is a French dish, no?"

"Yes..."

"Then trust me. I know what I am doing. I learned this recipe from a five star chef, herself." Ariadne assured him. "Besides...he did not say we **had** to follow his recipe."

Though he still looked uncertain, he agreed. Smiling, Ariadne examined their station. Nodding to herself, she turned to her partner.

"Alright. I'll get the meat and herbs, you get the vegetables. We'll need potatoes, onion, carrots, garlic cloves, cremini mushrooms, fennel, and pearl onions. I'll get the rest. Got it?" she asked.

The boy nodded and ran off. Ariadne went off after her own ingredients. While several students went after sirloin, Ariadne choose a cut of chuck and grabbed some bacon while she was at it. Moving to the herbs, she grabbed salt, pepper, flat-leaf parsley, bay leaves, thyme, chives, and rosemary.

When she returned to the station, she looked over the ingredients.

"Lastly, we need to make a tomato paste and will need flour, red wine, and sugar. Brown sugar preferably." Ariadne said.

"Sugar?" her partner asked.

"Just trust me. It'll give it a taste you've never experienced before." she assured him.

"If you say so. What about roux or cornstarch? Most recipes call for i-"

"No. No roux or cornstarch. It's a stew, not a paste. Potatoes have enough starch for the thickness." she told him before sending him off.

When he came back, they got to cooking. While Ariadne started prepping vegetables, her partner grabbed the meat and was about to put it in raw. Ariadne caught him in time.

"Not raw!" she exclaimed, grabbing his wrist.

"What? Why?" he asked.

"That's the perfect way to lose flavor. You need to cut the meat into chunks, rolled it lightly, **lightly**, in flour, and sear it. Cook the chunks in batches or they'll steam and become gray, flavorless lumps." she told him.

"I-I didn't know..."

"It's a common mistake. I'll tell you the seven most common mistakes most chefs make with Boeuf Bourguignon. The first is using any cut of meat. Always use chuck. The second is adding the meat raw. Sear it in batches. The bits at the bottom afterward adds flavor. The third is thickening the whole thing with roux, flour, or cornstarch. The flour on the seared meat and the potatoes' starch will do that for you. The fourth is adding all ingredients in at once. Vegetables should be added in the last forty-five minutes. The rosemary, thyme, tarragon, chives, parsley, and fennel go last. Fifth, don't leave the fat. Sixth, don't excessively cook it. Not a problem today since we have a time limit. Lastly, never serve it by itself. So we need a crusty bread, as well."

Her partner stared at her as she begun expertly chopping the meat, rolling it in flour before adding it to a heated pan with a drizzle of olive oil. She did all of this while continuing to talk to him. She moved quickly from one task to the next, all while instructing him on what to do. It was clear that she had experience and could multi-task with the best of them. By the time they had it cooking and could slow down, her partner knew more about the dish than he had before.

"Now, just let it cook." Ariadne remarked, dusting off her hands.

Turning towards her partner, Ariadne opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she caught sight of a couple of her classmates messing with Souma and Megumi's dish. Ariadne frowned at the sight, making her partner turn to try to find what was causing the look.

To mess with someone else's dish like that...did they not care that it would effect more than just Souma? After all, it wasn't just Souma's, but Megumi's as well. By messing with the dish, they were screwing with Megumi's grade just as much as they were messing with Souma's.

From the look on Souma's face, though, he had it well under hand. Ariadne would just focus on her own dish and would see how Souma would handle it. In the end, Souma and Megumi ended up presenting their dish before Ariadne and her partner could serve up their own.

And Souma got high praise from Chef Chapelle.

Ariadne served up her dish next, serving it to Chef Chapelle with a side of crusty bread and a smile. When she sat it before him, Chef Chapelle eyed the dish.

"This is not the recipe I displayed, is it?" he asked.

"No, sir, but it is Boeuf Bourguignon." Ariadne replied, her partner too nervous to speak up.

Chef Chapelle eyed Ariadne, but she merely smiled back at him, her hands clasped loosely before her. She was completely confident in her dish, something all chefs should display. After years of cooking it, she had experimented enough with it to know what worked and what didn't. She was sure he would enjoy it, so she quietly waited patiently while he tested her dish, the meat tender enough to be cut with a fork.

The moment the taste hit his taste buds, Chef Chapelle's eyes widened. He had never tasted a version of this dish that was so hearty, but sweet at the same time. There was the predicted juiciness of the meat, the seasoning of the herbs, and the unique flavors of the vegetables, but what surprised him, was the decidedly sweet aftertaste that could appeal to the sweet tooth in everyone.

"_Magnifique_! What is this sweet taste?" Chef Chapelle asked.

"Brown sugar added in with a sweeter red wine. It's suppose to lend the meat a sweeter taste while not being over powering. I find the taste rather appealing, myself, but I've always had a sweet tooth." Ariadne said.

"That it is! I never thought to come across a sweet Boeuf Bourguignon! Splendid! I give it an A!" Chef Chapelle announced, smiling as he had with Souma and Megumi's dish.

"_Merci beaucoup_, Chef Chapelle." Ariadne said, her partner cheering.

Ariadne turned away from the Chef, heading back to her station. Her partner stopped to talk to a few friends who had already presented their dish, while Ariadne continued on to her station.

"How'd it go?"

Souma calling out to her, brought her to a stop. Ariadne turned towards him, smiling as her hands went to her hips in an almost sassy manner.

"An A, same as you. Quick thinking with the honey. I didn't know anyone else knew that trick. I deal with a lot of sweeter ingredients in my cooking, so I've known that trick for a while." Ariadne said, Megumi watching the two converse.

"Yeah, took a lot of experimenting to figure it out. You?" Souma asked.

"Honey was my mother's quick fix to a lot of things. Growing up, we always had a jar on hand." Ariadne replied.

"Cool. So, what did you do to get him to smile?" Souma asked, jerking a thumb over his shoulder towards Chef Chapelle.

"My mother's old recipe for a sweet Boeuf Bourguignon. It hasn't failed me yet." Ariadne told him proudly before her eyes landed on Megumi. "Oh, hello! I didn't mean to ignore you. I'm Sinclair Ariadne."

Megumi gave her a sheepish smile as she introduced herself. Ariadne, she found, was nice and gave her a bright smile in greeting as she shook her hand.

"You're so cute, Megumi. Sweeter than even my dish." Ariadne added, making Megumi blush at the compliment.

If that line had come from a guy, Megumi would have sworn it was a pick-up line. The way Ariadne phrased it, though, Megumi couldn't tell if it was just her being nice, or if there was, indeed, a different meaning behind Ariadne's words. In all honesty, she didn't want to think about it, either. Ariadne didn't say anything else as she released Megumi's hand.

"By the way, to commemorate that we now know each other, do you want to eat my new dish?" Souma asked his two new friends.

"Yeah! Can I? I want to try it!" Megumi replied instantly.

Ariadne, seeing a mischievous glint in Souma's eyes, wasn't as quick to answer. She had a feeling this dish wasn't going to be as good tasting as his dish for Chef Chapelle.

And she was right.

Dried squid covered in honey.

Megumi instantly regretted agreeing to taste the dish. Once she had tried it, Souma turned to Ariadne to get her to try the squid next. Whatever he had been about to say, though, died in his throat when he turned.

Ariadne was already gone.

Blinking in surprise, Souma looked around, trying to locate her, but the girl was simply gone. Either she had left the room or was hiding because no matter where he looked, he couldn't find her.

"Huh...I wonder where she ran off to."

-0-0-0-0-

So far...so hungry...

Souma groaned as he trudged along. After his first day of school, Souma had gone in search of the student dorms where he would live from then until he finished his time at the school. When he had set out, he had completely forgotten just how large the school campus was.

When finally he located the Polar Star Dorm, it was not what he had been expecting. After all the expensive, extravagant buildings he had passed, he hadn't expected the old, almost creepy, western-styled building that he found.

Then he stepped foot into the dorm and all hell broke loose.

First, there was the smoke that resulted from a student turning the lounge into a smoke room. Then there was the stampede of wild game that another student had been keeping in her room.

And then he met the dorm mother.

Daimidou Fumio.

The old woman mixed with the weirdness he'd had already seen, and had Souma thinking he had ended up in a weird place again. Of course, matters only got worse when Souma found out that, in order to stay in the dorm, he had to cook a dish from ingredients he had on him and it would have to pass Fumio's test. Souma knew he was doomed for all he had on him was dried squid. If he couldn't think of something quick, then he would be camping out. Not an appealing idea with how cold it was.

"Give up! There's only leftover ingredients in the kitchen." Fumio told him. "You had bad luck today-"

"So I can use the leftovers?" Souma asked, cutting her off. "I'll take the skill test! Where's the kitchen?"

Fumio consented, leading Souma to the kitchen. Unlike the rest of the house, the kitchen was modern and well kept. A complete opposite when compared with the rest of the dorm.

"Whoa! What a nice kitchen! It's totally different from the exterior!" Souma remarked.

"Souma?"

Souma turned as someone poked their head out of the pantry. Smiling back at him as she untied an apron from over her uniform, was Ariadne.

"Oh! Hey, Sinclair!" Souma greeted.

"Call me Ariadne. Or Ari, I don't care. You looking to join the dorm, too?" Ariadne asked.

"Yeah. And you? Have you done your skill test, yet?" Souma asked.

"Just finished and was cleaning up. The kitchen is all your's now." Ariadne told him.

"Were you the one that used everything?" Souma asked.

Ariadne laughed as she folded her apron up. Draping it over one arm, she shook her head in answer to his question.

"No. I brought my own ingredients." Ariadne replied. "For the dishes that make up a majority of my most used dishes, I have to have special ingredients that most kitchens don't normally keep in stock."

"Like what?" Souma asked.

"Like my family's secret ingredient."

Souma opened his mouth to ask another question, but Ariadne raised a finger to her lips, smiling as she gave him a wink. A grin curled Souma's lips. He could respect a cooking secret. It just insured that he would taste-testing as many of Ariadne's dishes as he could until he figure out what it was.

Fumio butted in then.

"Listen, I hate kids that bluff the most! How many of the students' dishes do you think I've tasted...! Do you think I'll give an improvised dish a passing mark?" she demanded of Souma, as the boy moved past Ariadne to examine what ingredients were left in the kitchen.

"Yeah! This much should be enough!" Souma told Fumio, pulling his headband off his wrist and tying it into place. "Polar Star Dormitory mother, Daimidou Fumio-dono, please wait a minute!"

With that, Souma got to work, Fumio staring at him out of surprise. Ariadne simply smiled to herself before turning to Fumio.

"Fumio-dono, do you mind if I stick around to watch?" she asked politely.

"No, knock yourself out." Fumio replied, her attention almost completely focused on Souma.

Ariadne took a seat on a stool, draping her apron over the counter. She propped her elbows on the counter top and leaned forward to rest her chin in her hands, her eyes following Souma as he worked. As he moved from prep work to cooking, Ariadne closed her eyes, listening to the familiar, and comforting, sounds of the kitchen.

Those sounds...

It reminded Ariadne of home, of standing at the back of the kitchen while her parents moved about, the smells of their cooking still strong in her memory. When Souma opened the lid on his pan, dishing up his food, Ariadne opened her eyes, finding a fat and juicy looking hamburger steak sitting on the plate in front of Fumio.

"There should've been less than one gram of beef and pork minced meat. What kind of magic did you use to make this fleshy hamburger?!" Fumio demanded.

"I used canned mackerel to make this Mackerel Burger!" Souma answered.

"Canned mackerel?!"

Fumio couldn't hide her shock, Ariadne giggling lightly from her seat. Ariadne was already acquainted with how resourceful Souma could be just from his run in with a couple of miffed classmates earlier that day. Souma, though, decided to explain his improvisation to Fumio.

"Onions, eggs, bread crumbs and mackerel whose juice was lightly drained. I broke all of those into pieces and mixed them, added salt and pepper, and fried it. With that, you can make a fluffy mackerel burger! Moreover, when you add ponzu to the canned mackerel's juice and make it viscous using potato starch diluted with water, you get a great sauce with a refreshing flavor!" Souma explained.

"No way...that's...A hamburger made with canned mackerel would have a raw smell so strong that you wouldn't be able to eat it-"

Fumio cut off as she took a bite of the burger. Another giggle left Ariadne as a blissful look took over Fumio's expression, the woman nearly drooling at the taste of the burger. Without another word, Fumio next picked up the bowl of egg soup that Souma sat down next to the plate. She took a sip, her eyes opening wide in surprise when the taste washed over her tongue.

"Wha...what is this?!" Fumio asked. "Just how did you do this? There was no kelp, katsuobushi, or anything else you could make dashi from!"

"About that...I had some in my hands." Souma replied.

When Fumio merely gave him a questioning look, Souma reached up and flicked the piece of dried squid hanging from between his teeth.

"You're saying that you made dashi out of dried squid!?" Fumio asked.

"Sounds about right. Since the squid is dried, it's basically just a mass of delicious components. Boil it in water, add a little salt, and if makes a deep and effective dashi." Ariadne remarked.

"Right. I called this the Yukihira Style Improvised Mackerel Burger Meal!" Souma confirmed.

Fumio was impressed. That Souma had been able to come in, with next to no ingredients on hand, and make dishes of such good quality...Fumio couldn't help but let the nostalgic taste carry her back to memory from when she was young.

Ariadne raised an eyebrow, one side of her mouth twitching with the urge to smile as Fumio, lost in her memory, started making a kissy face at Souma, who had to push her away. Souma shot Ariadne a look when the girl began to laugh, Fumio collecting herself in the background. When Ariadne finally got herself under control, apologizing to Souma for the laughing, Fumio produced two keys, one marked 303 and the other 304.

"Alright! Your rooms are Room 303 and Room 304!" Fumio said, handing the former to Souma and the latter to Ariadne. "I'll accept both of your admissions into the dorm!"

"Thank you, Fumio-dono." Ariadne said, taking her key.

Turning, she and Souma collected their things and headed for their room.

"I'm heading for a bath first!" Souma cheered as they found the stairs and headed up.

"I think I'll get settled and give Taliyah a call." Ariadne replied.

"Taliyah?" Souma asked.

"My little sister. She's eight and wanted me to give her a call, tell her about the school, as soon as I was settled in my room."

"Oh, cool. So you two are close?" Souma asked.

A fond, but kind of sad smile curled Ariadne's lips, Souma blinking in a mix of surprise and questioning. Ariadne looked up to find the questioning look in his eyes and merely smiled brightly at him, dispelling the sad look completely.

"We are close. I hated leaving her behind, but what can you do?" Ariadne told him.

And that was that on the subject.

When they reached the third landing, Ariadne gave him a wave, leaving him to go bathe while she headed to her room. 304 was a corner room with a pleasantly stuffed bed, a desk and chair, bookshelf, two windows to lend the room plenty of nature light and a decent size closet. Now that Ariadne had passed the entrance test for the dorm, she could call home and have the rest of her things sent to her. For the time being, the two suitcases and the single equipment case she was carrying were quick to unpack.

During her unpacking, she came across some strange tubes sticking up out of the floor. Ariadne, ever the curious soul, examined the tubes, wondering what they were. She even opened the cap over one end and peered inside, but could seeing nothing but shadows.

"Huh...guess I'll have to ask Fumio-dono what these are for." Ariadne remarked to herself before going back to unpacking.

She hung the few sets of clothes she had brought up in the closet, neatly lined her shoes in the bottom, unpacked the bag of toiletries for the bath, tucking it away in the closet, too, and pulled out her bedding. She had just finished making her bed when she heard something move over head. Looking up, Ariadne came face to face with a handsome boy looking down at her from where he had moved a ceiling tile out of the way. Ariadne was frozen on the spot, her full lips parting in surprise as her eyes grew wide, even as he greeted her with a smile.

"Hello, transfer student! We're having a party to welcome you. Won't you join u..."

The boy trailed off as, calmly as possibly, Ariadne lifted one foot, pulled the slipper from her foot...and promptly threw it in his face.

As he fell from his perch, landing face first on the floor, Ariadne leaned over him, watching as he twitched. A normal girl would have gone running from the room or would have continued to beat the poor boy, but Ariadne had never been accused of being normal. Instead, she reached out to poke the back of his head.

"Uh..._excusez-moi_...are you dead?"

A weak thumbs-up and a groan was her answer. Ariadne heaved a sigh of relief, forgetting, for the moment, that this boy had popped out of her ceiling.

She was just glad she hadn't killed him...yet.

END

Author's Note: I love Ariadne. She's just fun to write. Well, as usual with me, I have another chapter to post, and the next chapter starts the character interactions I do before and after each chapter. I do update at least one story every Sunday. That doesn't mean that it's always going to be this one, but I do make an effort to update one story or another, so keep an eye out. I'll be right back with the next chapter, so enjoy and review! Bye!


	2. Food Wars

Kyandi: I told you I'd be right back! So, everyone, say hi to my OC, Ariadne Sinclair.

Ariadne: Hello!

Kyandi: Just to let you all know, this chapter is actually a little longer than what I usually put out.

Ariadne: She got carried away.

Kyandi: I just couldn't find a good stopping place.

Ariadne: Because of that, you get a little bit of a longer chapter.

Kyandi: Yep. Well, I have errands to do today, so shall we get on with it?

Ariadne: Oui!

Kyandi: Alright. Everyone, please enjoy and review.

Ariadne: Kyandi-sama does not own Shokugeki no Soma.

Chapter 2 Food Wars

The boy, it turned out, was another student living in the dorm by the name of Isshiki Satoshi. He was the only upperclassman currently living in the dorm and had come to collect Ariadne for a joint welcoming party for her and Souma. Ariadne, embarrassed by her actions, even though he kind of deserved it, apologized in all three languages she knew as he lead her and Souma downstairs to room 205 for the party.

There, Ariadne found one of the craziest scenes she had ever seen.

"I told you! I'm busy studying for the written exams! If you're having a party feel free to do it in another room!" This came from the owner of the room, Marui Zenji, who was **not** happy to be playing host. "Why do you always do it in my room?!"

"It can't be helped. Marui's room is the biggest of all."

This came from one of the other girls living in the dorm, Yoshino Yuuki. She also happened to be the one that Souma had seen chasing wild game through the dorm when had first arrived. At the moment, she sat on Zenji's bed, messing with her nails.

"And it's always clean when we come." Yuuki added.

"Don't just go and sit on my bed!" Zenji yelled back.

Ariadne currently found herself sitting on the floor just to the right of Megumi, Souma sitting on Megumi's other side. Megumi, to Ariadne's eyes, seemed upset, the girl doing everything in her power not to look at Souma. Ariadne had to wonder if it had something to do with Souma making her taste his honey and squid dish. She couldn't think of it being anything else. Seeing how fidgety and upset Megumi looked, Ariadne thought it best not to ask. She didn't want to trouble the other girl anymore then she had already been.

"Well, I never thought I'd be together with Tadokoro, or Ari, in the dorm too." Souma remarked.

"You're right...Wait, that means that Souma-kun and Ari-chan...You passed the dorm entrance skill test at your first try?!" Megumi shouted, looking between the two.

Souma sheepishly rubbed at the back of his head, giving her a half grin. Ariadne just smiled, letting Souma do all the talking while she took another drink from the cup that had been passed to her.

"Well yeah, I'm glad I somehow managed." Souma told Megumi.

"'Somehow managed', he says." Ariadne mused, laughing lowly to herself.

From the look she had seen on Fumio's face, Ariadne was willing to bet that he had done more than just "managed".

"That's amazing...I don't think there's many people who passed on their first try." Megumi said, before turning to Ariadne. "You passed on your first try, too?"

Ariadne's eyes rolled to the side, refusing to look at the dejected look in Megumi's big, pleading eyes. Instead of answering, and making the current situation more awkward by admitting that she, too, had managed something in a single try that took Megumi three months to accomplish, Ariadne remained silent. But that was answer enough for Megumi, the girl hanging her head in despair.

"Hey, Ari, what did you do to that guy earlier that had you apologizing to him over and over?" Souma suddenly asked, leaning around Megumi to look at Ariadne.

"Oh, um...I threw my shoe in his face when he popped up out of my ceiling."

When Megumi turned a look on Ariadne that was a mix of shock and horror, Ariadne smiled sheepishly, Souma laughing in the background. It wasn't like Ariadne had been purposely trying to get off on a wrong foot with the dorm's supervising student. If she had wanted to do that, she could have come up with way better ways of doing that. It was just kind of hard not to react the way she had when the boy had chosen the weirdest way possible to collect her for a party.

Speaking of the creepy ceiling creeper.

"Hey, hey! I called out for everyone in the dorm, you know? But there's not even half of them here." Isshiki said, entering the room.

"Well, it can't be helped, right." one of the other boys, a guy named Sato Shoji, replied. "Isshiki-senpai tells us to gather almost everyday so everyone's got tired of it."

"They got tired, that can't be, right? I mean, Tadokoro-chan always participates." Isshiki replied.

"But, if I don't participate he'll come to wake me up a few minutes later." Megumi replied.

"He'd eventually give up if you ignore him...Megumi, you sure are conscientious."

This comment came from the last of the girls in the dorm, Sakaki Ryoko.

"Listen, everyone! Youngsters living under the same roof and eating food from the same stove. This is youth! This is being a student! I yearned for that so I came to this dorm. Now, let's enjoy a bright dorm life!" Isshiki exclaimed.

Ariadne had to worry that perhaps Isshiki had read one too many slice-of-life mangas and that it had all just gone to his head.

"That's fine and all, but just stop coming to call us using the loft." Shoji told Isshiki.

"Yes, please. Next time, I won't feel sorry for throwing a shoe at you." Ariadne added, giving Isshiki a bright smile when he turned a gloomy look on her. "A girl needs her privacy, yes?"

Isshiki left it at that. If he didn't want to take her warning though, then Ariadne would just have to get some heavy-duty glue after the ceiling tiles in her room. Make sure he couldn't get to her room through that way.

"So, I'm a second year, Isshiki. Call me "Isshiki-senpai"!" Isshiki said, offering his hand to Souma and Ariadne to shake. "Everyone else are first years like you two. Welcome to the Polar Star Dorm."

"Sinclair Ariadne. I really do insist that you all call me either Ariadne or Ari." Ariadne said, as she shook Isshiki's hand. "And, once again, sorry about the shoe to the face, but you really shouldn't pop in on a girl from her ceiling like that."

Isshiki merely gave her a smile and a laugh. Ariadne had a feeling that he wasn't taking her statement serious. First thing tomorrow, Ariadne was heading to the store for the strongest glue she could find and was sealing up her ceiling tiles.

"Now, let's have a toast. All of you, grab a drink!" Isshiki declared.

Ryoko handed Souma and Ariadne a cup once they were seated and poured them a drink from a bottle with a handmade label.

"Thank you." Ariadne told her with a smile.

"I mean, is it okay to make this much noise this late?" Souma asked, looking around.

"It's okay, I mean, this place is surrounded by a forest." Ryoko assured him.

"But well, there's the dorm mother..."

Souma was cut off when Fumio's voice suddenly sounded from the pipes that stuck up out of the floor. Ariadne guessed she finally got her answer on what they were for. It seemed they were used to converse between the rooms. Which was pretty cool, but Ariadne could already see some problems with that kind of thing.

"I think it's okay, Souma." Ariadne remarked, smiling as Fumio called for someone to come get some food she had prepared for them.

"Come back before Fumio-san starts bragging about the Elite Ten!" Isshiki called after the two going after the food.

Isshiki's comment caught Souma's attention, making him look up from his drink.

"Hey, you know what that "Elite Ten" is?" he asked.

"Eh...you're seriously asking?" Ryoko replied, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"You really entered Totsuki without knowing anything, huh." Yuuki added from the bed.

"Even I know who they are." Ariadne remarked, drawing Souma's attention to her. "It's a committee made up of the top ten students in the Internal Evaluations. In the school, most of the decisions are left for the students to decide, and the members of the Elite Ten are the ones that decide what to do. In the set-up of organization within the school, the Elite Ten are directly below the school director. Even teachers have to listen to their choices. Needless to say, what they say, goes."

"That's pretty much it." Yuuki agreed. "Decades ago, when the dorm's rooms had no vacancies, a lot of the Elite Ten came from the Polar Star."

"It seems there was even a year when the Elite Ten was made entirely up of Polar Star students. When Fumio-san starts talking about that it'll take a while!" Ryoko added.

Ariadne filed that piece of information away, mentally making a note to never bring up the Elite Ten around Fumio. The last thing she needed was to be held up for hours on end, listening to Fumio's bragging and stories. Thinking that, Ariadne took a drink from her cup and let out a little surprised noise, peering down at the liquid inside the cup.

"This murkiness...Ryoko, this wouldn't happen to be illicitly brewed sake, would it?" Ariadne asked, Souma glaring at his own cup.

"It's just juice made from rice." Ryoko replied.

Sure it was.

As the party really picked up, Ariadne was amazed at just how weird the inhabitants of the dorm were. At the top of the List of Weirdness, was Isshiki suddenly managing to lose all of his clothes except for his apron. Not knowing what to do, but having enough experience to do anything else, Ariadne dropped her face into her hand, hiding Isshiki from her sight. It made her wonder if she would ever get use to people she now found herself living with.

As things jump first from a fight between Shoji and Daigo over whose food was better, then Yuuki joined in on that fight, and then Souma introduced their new dorm mates to his horrible squid concoctions. Before Ariadne knew it, everyone save her Souma and Isshiki, were passed out. Even thought both Isshiki and Souma insisted on her staying up with them a little longer, Ariadne turned them down, insisting that she needed to get to bed.

It had nothing to do with the fact that Isshiki was still walking around in nothing but an apron.

Waving goodnight to the two, Ariadne glanced at her watch. She did a quick calculation before a smile curled her lips. It would be mid afternoon back home and her sister, Taliyah, would be out of school. Ariadne could give her a call before she headed off to bed. With that thought, Ariadne hurried up to her room, grabbing her phone from her desk and flopping onto her bed. Rolling onto her back she dialed her home number and listened to the phone ring.

On the second ring, a man answered the phone, his smooth, heavily accented French sounding over the line.

"Dante, it's Ari." Ariadne greeted, recognizing the voice of an old family friend.

Dante Ricci was someone Ariadne had grown up with, the man basically being an adopted brother to her. When she had been her younger sister's age, Ariadne's parents had taken Dante in, raising him as their own. It was nice, in a place where hardly anything was familiar, to hear a voice she had grown up with.

"_Ah! Ari! We were wondering when you were going to call_."

"Sorry about that. It has been a very...interesting day." Ariadne replied, grinning to herself as she did. "Is Taliyah there?"

"_Of course. She's been practically glued to the phone since coming home from school. I am surprised that I actually got to the phone before she di-_"

The man on the other end, Dante, was cut off. Ariadne raised an eyebrow as she hurried scrambling on the other end, followed by yells of "Gimme, gimme!". There was a crash and then a small, panting voice came on the phone.

"_Ari?! Is that you?!_"

Ariadne chuckled quietly to herself at the almost frantic tone in her little sister's voice as she spoke. Of course the little girl would be worked up despite the fact that they had only been separated for two days.

"What would you have done, Tali, if it wasn't me on the phone but some business call?" Ariadne asked, lightly scolding her sister.

"_Oh, umm...I didn't think about that_."

Of course she hadn't. Ariadne and Taliyah were closer than most sisters, the two of them always together. For as long as Taliyah could remember, Ariadne had always been no further than a yell away. Always there, always ready to open her arms for the little girl. Ariadne couldn't blame her for being a little anxious at them being apart.

"It's alright, this time, but, for now on, you need to be patient and make sure its me before you get worked up, alright, sweetie?" Ariadne asked.

"_Alright. It's just...I miss you, Ari._"

"I miss you too, sweetie, but it's only for a little while. Now, you need to apologize to Dante for knocking him over. He's not so young anymore that you can get away with that." Ariadne told her sister.

"_Hey! I heard that!_" came Dante's voice in the background. "_I am only twenty-two, thank you very much!_"

"I meant no offense by it Dante. Only that it is natural as people get older, to take a little longer to recover from injuries." Ariadne assured him.

"_Yeah! Your bones are weaker than ours, Dante!_" Taliyah said sweetly, with no real malice behind her words.

Ariadne clamped a hand over her mouth as Dante started bickering with the eight year old, insisting that his bones were still strong and sturdy. Listening to the two of them go at it, as if they two were the same age rather than years apart, it made Ariadne instantly homesick.

"God, I already miss the two of you." Ariadne found herself saying.

All noise on the other end of the phone came to a complete stand-still. There was silence for a moment before one of the two talked.

"_You can always come home if you want, Ari. We can figure things out another way._" Dante told her.

"No, no. This will be good for me, in more ways than one. You guys just have to answer the phone everyday when I call. And I do mean every day. Oh! And send me pastries, too. If I have that, I can handle the homesickness." Ariadne told him.

She heard Dante chuckle.

"_You got it, Ari. Just leave it to your big brother._" Dante insisted.

"_Ari doesn't want your pastries! Your's always turns out tasting funny!_" Taliyah insisted.

Another round of arguing started then, Ariadne unable to stop her laughter. After the long trip to Japan, first day of class, and then the whole test to enter the dorms, it was nice to be able to call and just hear her siblings' voices.

Even if it was just listening to them argue.

"How about we agree that **both** of you are going to send pastries so I say goodnight and get to bed. I do have classes tomorrow and it's already late here." Ariadne told them.

Taliyah and Dante agreed, the two wishing her good night and good luck for the following day before Ariadne hung up. Grinning to herself as she got ready for bed, Ariadne couldn't wait to see what her life at Totsuki would turn out to be like.

With dorm mates like hers, Ariadne was sure that life was going to turn out very interesting.

-0-0-0-0-

"You told me it was postponed yesterday. So now, with the seventh seat on line, I challenge you! Isshiki-senpai!"

This was not what Ariadne was expecting first thing in the morning.

Upon coming down to the dinning room the next morning, some of her fellow dorm mates behind her, Ariadne found Souma sitting cross-legged in a chair. The moment they entered the room, he had dramatically declared a challenge, as if he had been waiting there for the moment Isshiki came down. Silence stretched between them, everyone just staring at the particularly smug look on Souma's face.

Then Isshiki heaved a gentle sigh.

"Sorry, Souma-kun...I didn't explain enough about Totsuki Academy's "challenges"." Isshiki started, Souma giving him a confused look. "To start with, these "challenges" were established to settle disputes between students. There are some rules to them. Souma-kun, if you wish to challenge me to get my seventh seat, you must present "compensation" that matches it."

Ariadne moved past Isshiki, heading to the table where Fumio had already set out their breakfast. The others joined them, Ariadne thanking Fumio for the food before digging in, Isshiki continuing his explanation.

"Let's see, if it was a condition of equal value to the seventh seat, not even dropping out of school would be enough." Isshiki told Souma.

"Really?!"

Souma couldn't believe his ears. Ariadne, though, had to agree that it was fitting. After all, only the director of the school sat above the Elite Ten in terms of power and say in the school. In order to win one of those seats, there had to be a lot riding on the line for the other person too.

"That's right! That's the worth of the Elite Ten. In the past, some of the students of this dorm made it into the Elite Ten nearly every year. It was truly the Golden Age of the Polar Star. You guys are miserable compared to that!" Fumio snapped.

"One of us is in it so bear with it, Fumio-san." Daigo replied.

"Besides, don't you think that's a little harsh when two of us only just arrived?" Ariadne asked.

Seeing her point in this, Fumio fell silent once more, Isshiki continuing on with the original topic at hand. Holding his hands palm-up in a look of what-can-you-do, Isshiki gave a shake of his head.

"If I accepted your conditions we could compete, but of course, I don't want you to leave this academy. To sum it up, your challenge isn't feasible." Isshiki told him, giving Souma an apologetic smile for the bad news.

"Really? And I woke up at five all fired up." Souma whined, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat.

"All that for a reckless challenge? Are you trying to get yourself ejected from this school before you even really start?" Ariadne asked Souma.

"I think he's probably an idiot." Yuuki butted in.

"I wouldn't call him an idiot, so much as...single-minded." Ariadne replied.

Souma knew Ariadne was just trying to help, but all she was doing was making it sound bad in a different way than Yuuki. It wasn't really helping his case in the least. Not that he could say anything to Ariadne's face when she gave him a bright smile.

"And you see," Isshiki said, drawing the conversation back to him. "It's not like we can just do it. For a challenge you need three things. An authorized person that can prove that the challenge is official, an odd number of judges, and that both parties agree on the challenge's conditions. By fulfilling that, the challenge is arranged. Those that oppose each other must make the other surrender with their cooking. Totsuki's traditional one-on-one cooking challenge! It's name is Food Wars."

"Sounds interesting. Hmmm~!"

Isshiki and the others turned their attention to Ariadne as she hummed to herself. As they watched, Ariadne's lips curled, not into one of the smiles they had seen thus far, but into something with a mischievous quirk to it. They couldn't tell what Ariadne was thinking, but if that smirk of hers was anything to go by, then it wasn't good.

"If you'll excuse me." Ariadne said, getting to her feet to take her dishes to the kitchen, a thoughtful look in her eyes and the grin only growing wider.

"Why do I get the feeling something bad is about to happen when she smiles like that?" Yuuki asked.

No one had an answer for her. Maybe after getting to know Ariadne better, they might, but for the time being, Ariadne was a mystery.

With the conversation brought to an end, Souma finished up his breakfast, meeting up with Megumi and Ariadne at the dorm's front doors so the three could head to class together.

"Oh, hey, did you ever get to call your sister last night?" Souma asked, looking over at Ariadne.

"Yeah. She had been waiting by the phone for me to call. Nearly killed our brother in her hurry to take the phone from him." Ariadne replied, grinning at the mental image of little Taliyah tackling grown Dante.

"Sounds like she already misses you." Megumi remarked.

"Yeah, she does. Since the day that she was born, I've carried that girl around like she was my own baby. Where I went, she went, and vice versa. We've never seen separated like this before." Ariadne replied, her own tone filled with longing.

"You miss her, too." Megumi stated.

"Of course I do. She's my baby sister. Aside from cooking, she's been my whole world." Ariadne replied.

"Wouldn't your brother be sad to hear that?" Souma asked, glancing back at Ariadne.

"Don't get me wrong, I love Dante too. We might not be blood related, but he's been like a brother to me for a long time."

"You're not blood related?" Megumi asked.

"No. Dante was fourteen when he came to live with us. His parents had been really close friends with mine. When they were killed in a car accident, there was no other family members to step up and take Dante in. My parents were quick to step in. They brought him into our home and that was all she wrote. As far as Taliyah and I are concerned, he's our brother. Though, when he starts trying to flirt, I claim I don't know him. It's just too awkward to watch."

Souma and Megumi laughed as Ariadne made a face. As far as Ariadne was concerned, the lack of flirting skills, alone, showed that Dante was not related to them. Everyone in Ariadne's family, even little Taliyah, had some kind of flirting skills, but Dante...Ariadne could only heave a sigh and hang her head at his failed attempts.

Needless to say, Dante was single.

Ariadne, Souma and Megumi continued to chat as they made their way to the main school building. Classes, that day, were interesting, Ariadne learning more about her fellow classmates. She met up with Souma and Megumi after school, Megumi offering to show them around the school a bit. Along the way, they stopped at a large announcement board on which were displayed various flyers. Souma stopped, peering at them, Ariadne at his side.

"Research Society?" Souma asked, reading the flyers.

"Yes, there's a lot of societies in Totsuki that specialize in different types of cooking." Megumi told him. "After school, they develop new dishes or participate in cooking contests outside the school together."

"Oh, so kind of like after school clubs in a normal high school." Ariadne remarked.

"Exactly! I'm part of the Local Cuisine Research Society." Megumi added.

"What? There's even one of Chanko Nabe?" Souma asked.

"Ah! The Chan RS has a long history." Megumi replied.

"There are so many choices." Ariadne mused, her eyes scanning the board.

There was a society for just about every kind of cuisine she could think of. It almost made Ariadne's head spin, there were so many choices. Though, she noted, her eyes scanning quickly over the words before her, that there wasn't a society for her kind of cooking. Which was interesting to say the least. It made her wonder if she was truly a strange existence within the school.

Apparently, though, one of the flyers caught Souma's attention.

"Let's go, Tadokoro, Ari!" Souma suddenly exclaimed, pushing the two girls ahead of him.

Ariadne was left with no choice but to follow, Megumi stumbling over her words as she tried to protest, but was left unable to get it out. The society that Souma whisked them off to, was for Bowl Club, a group devoted to researching different recipes for rice bowls.

Ariadne used the word "group" very loosely, though.

When they opened the door, they were greeted with the sight of a small room covered in a scattered array of recipes and notebooks, and a rather depressed looking upperclassman sitting in the middle of the room, his head hung.

"I'm sorry, but go back. Soon, the Don RS will be shut down." he told them when he glanced up to see who had opened the door.

The boy, in the most depressed manner Ariadne had ever heard, introduced himself as Konishi Kanichi, a second year and the leader of the club.

"You said you were Yukihira, Tadokoro...and Sinclair, huh. I'm this place's chief." Kanichi told them.

"Are you alright? You seem a little...depressed, defeated." Ariadne remarked.

"Hehehe...laugh at me, I couldn't even protect the Don RS." Kanichi replied as Megumi bent to pick up one of the notebooks lying on the floor.

"This is...a recipe compilation?" Megumi asked, looking at it. "It seems these are dishes the Don RS thought about."

"Let's see." Souma said, holding out a hand for the notebook.

Megumi handed the notebook to Souma, Ariadne moving closer to peer over his shoulder. Ariadne's eyes scanned the pages as Souma flipped through them. There were all kinds of rice bowl recipes inside, from the mainstream, common ones, to one far more eccentric. There were even recipes she had never heard off.

"There's some really interesting ones here!" Ariadne remarked, Souma agreeing with her.

"Why does the Don RS have to be shut down?" Souma demanded.

The two's comments seemed to spark some life into Kanichi, the boy happy to find someone who understood the wonder of rice bowls.

"You understand...you understand, Yukihira! Sinclair!"

Ariadne ducked to the side, avoiding Kanichi as he threw himself at her and Souma. Instead of latching on to the both of them, Kanichi merely grabbed Souma by the shoulders, tears streaming down his face from happiness.

"Don are a men's meal for fighting men! "Fast, tasty, and cheap". The beauty of the casual style! Manliness completed in one bowl! As a single man, I can't die without mastering dons!" Kanichi yelled.

Ariadne stood back with Souma and Megumi, tilting her head to the side as she watched Kanichi get himself all fired up. She supposed it was an improvement over how he was when they had first arrived, but both states were two extremes, and she could do without both.

"Damn...my Don RS...if only Nakiri Erina wasn't here!" Kanichi growled.

"Nakiri?" Souma asked, recognizing Erina's name.

"This is how Nakiri Erina does things. She cuts the budget or proposes the reduction of the clubroom of associations she doesn't like. After forcibly getting the approval to do that, the other party's situation gradually worsens until their only option left is turning the tables in one go with a Food War. Nakiri puts even more absurd conditions to accept the Food War and makes everything go the way she wants. Like that, she continues to gain more influence." Kanichi explained to them.

_Sounds like an unpleasant person to be around_, Ariadne thought.

Ariadne wasn't usually one to make judgments of people when she hadn't really had the time or chance to talk to them herself, but from what all she had heard about Erina from others, the girl didn't sound like the most pleasant of people to know. It made her wonder just how much of the rumors were actually true and how much of it was just blown out of proportion.

"The Don RS members, as soon as they found out that the opponent this time is one of Nakiri's subordinates, they all ran away." Kanichi told them.

And just like that, Kanichi lost all of the fire he had just sparked in himself. Ariadne couldn't believe how quickly this guy could swing from one extreme to the other. If it had been her, she would have gotten whiplash. Souma, though, didn't even seem to register the mood swings.

"So...what kind of opponent are you facing?" Souma asked.

Before Kanichi could answer the question, the door to the room flew open and men came pouring in, not caring when they trampled on the recipe notebooks on the floor. With them, came another student who had chosen to wear her uniform button down shirt unbuttoned and tied over what Ariadne was sure was just her bra. That or a bikini top.

"As we thought, rather than remodeling it, destroying it completely and rebuilding it is faster." one of the men told the girl.

"Is that so? Then do that!" she told them.

"Wha...what are you trying to do?" Kanichi demanded.

"'What?', well...I came to get an early preview. Because the result is obvious already." the girl, Mido Ikumi, replied.

Ariadne had to fight back a laugh at the embarrassed look on Kanichi's face as Mido invaded his personal space, backing him up against a wall and pinning him there with a fist on the wall.

"If you're confident in beating me then the story is different, right, Mr. Chief?" Mido demanded.

Kanichi was unable to look her in the eye, too intimidated and embarrassed to give her a confident reply. It only had Mido clicking her tongue at him in annoyance as she stepped away from him, hands on hips.

"What a gutless man. Since you're like that your members ran away." Mido told him.

"Damn nikumi." Kanichi muttered.

"Oh, dear..."

Ariadne let those two words slip when, in a flash, Mido drew a cleaver from a harness on her thigh and used that to chop off half of the ridiculous fedora hairstyle Kanichi had.

"If you say that one more time, I'll kill you." Mido told him.

Ariadne leaned towards Megumi then, lowering her voice to ask the girl a question.

"Hey, Megumi, who is she?" Ariadne asked.

Where Ariadne and Souma were new, and still didn't know the more famous members of the school, Megumi had been apart of the school since middle school. She was bound to know who this Mido girl was.

"Mido Ikumi-san...a chef known by the alias "Meat Master". In the middle school section, she always had superior grades. Specially in meat dishes' classes, her mastery has only earned her A's. The depth of her knowledge of meat is top class in the academy!" Megumi told her.

"I see. Then that would explain why she works under this Nakiri Erina girl. From what I've heard of Nakiri Erina, she only accepts the best." Ariadne remarked.

Megumi nodded in agreement as Ariadne turned her attention back to Mido.

"Hey! You're hindering my preview so could you leave? You can come back in about an hour." Mido told Kanichi.

"Wha!? Th...the match isn't settled yet." Kanichi tired to protest.

"I told you it's obvious, didn't I?" Mido replied, sounding annoyed. "Erina-sama said so too, that no matter how much you fixate on "Don", it's nothing more than a B-class gourmet vulgar dish. That isn't needed in Totsuki."

_The more I hear about this Erina girl, the more I can only picture a spoiled, rich girl princess type. I'm not sure we'll get along._

Ariadne gave her head a shake as she thought this. Regardless of what Erina's reputation and sway at the school was, if she acted completely like a spoiled brat, Ariadne wouldn't be able to stand her.

"Every other ingredient prostrates itself before worthy meat. No matter what kind of dish you make, it won't beat my super high grade meat!" Mido was going on, Ariadne finally tuning back in around the end of her spiel.

"I think rejoicing only over ingredient cost is a disgrace for a chef." Souma commented suddenly.

Mido turned a surprised look on Souma as the boy moved past her and to Kanichi's side.

"I have to agree, honestly. If all chefs only focus on the most expensive ingredients, then, eventually, they will go broke. Then what? Seems a little redundant, no?" Ariadne agreed, shrugging her shoulders, and giving Mido a wink, when the other girl glanced at her too.

"Good point." Souma agreed with Ariadne before turning to Kanichi, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Senpai, that Food War, can you leave it to me?"

Both Mido and Kanichi gave Souma identical shocked looks, Mido's quickly morphing to one of disbelief, as if she thought Souma was crazy. Which she probably did.

"What's with you? Outsiders should stay out of this..." Mido trailed off, Ariadne hiding a smile behind a hand as the other girl finally realized where she had seen Souma before. "You're...one of the transfer students!? The one from the opening ceremony."

"My, my...I don't think you're ever going to live that down, Souma." Ariadne mocked, Souma merely shrugging his shoulders.

"I wanted to try talking with you." Mido added, ignoring Ariadne's comment.

Ariadne had a feeling that, by the end of the Food War, Mido might not be so ready to dive head long into a full blown conversation with Souma. The boy could be rather annoying and had a tendency to rub people the wrong way. Even though he didn't mean to do that some of the time.

"To think you would try to butt in other people's Food War. You must be really confident on your skills." Mido remarked.

"Once you get to know him, you'll see that that is just Souma. I don't think he really understands social boundaries." Ariadne joked, giving Mido a smile when the girl looked at her. "It can be endearing at times...when you aren't on the receiving end, that is."

Souma didn't take anything Ariadne said in offense. He knew what he was like and knew that Ariadne was just joking. Or, at least, he thought she was joking.

"If you want we can battle in your arena...with meat dishes, I'll win either way." Souma told Mido.

"Then, if you lose to me, will you quit Totsuki?" Mido demanded. "If you don't have any guts don't go saying big wor-"

"Yeah, that's fine with me!"

Ariadne couldn't fight back the curt laugh that bubbled forth from her lips when Mido went slack-jawed, staring at Souma. Megumi and Kanichi just stood back, watching silent, unable to say a word.

"I saw that one coming." Ariadne remarked, Souma grinning back at her.

"In exchange, if I win...let's see...you have to join the Don RS." Souma told Mido, shocking everyone.

Ariadne had to admit that it was a fitting punishment. Mido had, after all, been seeking to bring Don RS down, so what better punishment than to make her join the club she had been trying to dismantle? It was perfect in Ariadne's opinion.

"Join the Don RS and contribute to develop the Don's culture, as an apology for the troubles you caused." Souma added.

"You really plan to win against me..." Mido trailed off, smirking to herself before she turned to the men how had entered the room with her. "Contractors, we're withdrawing today. Then, I accept the right to choose the theme! The main ingredient is "meat"...the dish to make is a "Don"! The match will be just as planned...in three days!"

With that, Mido and her contractors left the room, Mido waving a hand over her shoulder. The door slide shut behind Mido, leaving Ariadne and her friends in silence.

Silence that Ariadne was quick to break.

"She's cute. Prissy, but cute."

Souma, Kanichi, and Megumi all turned looks on Ariadne, the girl raising an eyebrow at them, silently asking why they were staring at her. Not wanting to get into the conversation at that point, Kanichi turned to Souma.

"Yukihira...why are you helping?" he asked.

"As the son of a special of the day shop, I can't overlook when someone says expensive meat is everything, and most of all, I thought that it would be a shame to let this place shut down." Souma replied, bending to pick up and dust off one of the notebooks that had been stepped on.

"But, Souma-kun, do you have any chances of winning?" Megumi asked.

Of course, Souma hadn't really thought about that. Ariadne gave her head a shake. While she was interested in seeing how this played out, she had to agree that it would have been nice if Souma had thought it through a little more before challenging someone who had been at the school a lot longer than him and knew how Food Wars played out.

Some would see this as things being stacked against Souma, but Ariadne had a feeling that Souma was so confident because he knew what he was doing. And if he didn't, then that just meant that he didn't need to be at Totsuki in the first place.

But Ariadne had a feeling she didn't need to worry.

END

Ariadne: You make me out to be a bigger flirt than I am.

Kyandi: Honey...you're a huge flirt. It runs in your blood.

Ariadne: Is that even something that can be inherited?

Kyandi: For the sake of our story...yes.

Ariadne: Well, if you say so.

Kyandi: Alright, well, I have to get going, so we'll leave it at that for this week.

Ariadne: Bonus points to whoever can make an accurate guess as to why Kyandi-sama named the story what she did.

Kyandi: Best of luck and enjoy and review. Please review!

Ariadne: We will return as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


	3. The Don of Dons

Kyandi: We're back!

Ariadne: She's had a hard time not writing on this story.

Kyandi: I can't help it! The series is hilarious!

Ariadne: Well, my life certain is anything but normal.

Kyandi: Yet, you handle it with such grace.

Ariadne: I try.

Kyandi: That's all anyone can do. Anyway, we're getting closer to where I get to show all of you some of the recipes I had to research for Ariadne.

Ariadne: Some are recipes of her own creation.

Kyandi: And their delicious! Anyway, everyone enjoy and review.

Ariadne: Kyandi-sama does not own Shokugeki no Soma.

Chapter 3 The Don of Dons

"What about this one?"

Ariadne hummed to herself, rolling a bite of food over her tongue as she test tasted what seemed like the hundredth don bowl since Souma had dragged her and Megumi back to the Don RS clubroom. It seemed that until the Food War between Souma and Mito, Ariadne would be one of the ones to taste all of Souma's attempts.

Not that she minded as long as he kept his weirder concoctions to himself, that was.

"It's good, but there's still something missing." Ariadne said, heaving a sigh as she sat the bowl down.

Souma clicked his tongue at another failure, crossing his arms as he tried to think of what they could do that wouldn't be common or pale in comparison to Mito's.

"Nikumi is a meat specialist...especially with beef." Kanichi said. "I don't think there's any need to fixate on beef don. Besides an oyakodon, for example, uses chicken meat. It works with this theme. A dish that overlaps as little as possible with Nikumi's is better."

"I see...so it should be as eccentric as possible. Tadokoro, is there any don you like?" Souma asked.

"Ermm...I don't know if it could be called a don and it isn't meat either. You see, you grill scallops on a net and add a bit of butter and soy sauce inside the opening. If you put that on steamy hot rice, it's really delicious." Megumi replied.

"What about you, Ari?" Souma asked.

"Well, I haven't had many dons in my life, but there is one I'm fond of, but it's not considered meat. I like a Poke Bowl." Ariadne replied.

"Poke Bowl?" Megumi asked.

"Poke is consider an Hawaiian soul food. It's been gaining a lot of popularity among American-Japanese cuisine. It's essentially chunks of raw fish marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil, tossed with sesame seeds and seaweed. The most common used fish for it are yellowfin tuna, octopus, skipjack tuna, and salmon. I've seen it made with ponzu sauce, sriracha, gochujang, wasabi and grated ginger juice with toppings ranging from avocado, cucumbers, edamame, green onions, masago, furikake and pickled sushi ginger. It's actually really good." Ariadne explained.

With both Megumi and Ariadne presenting two seafood dons, Kanichi deflated, tears streaming down his face.

"That's right...! We could have battled using a seafood don. Yukihira, it's all because you said you'd battle using meat." Kanichi complained.

"The theme for the battle is already decided so stop grumbling!" Souma told him.

"You don't know how strong Nikumi is!" Kanichi insisted "If she brings an A5 beef, we can't win!"

"A5 was...ermm, if I'm not mistaken, it was a rank for the quality of meat, right?" Megumi asked.

"It is. A5 is the highest rank a piece of meat can achieve." Ariadne confirmed.

"Meat of that level is drinkable." Kanichi added.

"He has a point. Meat that had been granted an A5 rank is extremely tender. You don't even need to use your teeth, it's that tender." Ariadne agreed.

"This is also an important point, the ingredients used in Food Wars must be prepared by the competitors, because being able to get a supply of raw ingredients is a necessary skill for chefs! The Mito household is expanding as a large-scale meat distributor. They have complete control over a section of the beef business. Financial muscle, installations, and commercial routes. All of those constitute the reason why Nikumi's dishes are of the highest quality." Kanichi told them, only getting more depressed the more he talked.

"I wonder if you can really surpass that amazing meat." Megumi remarked.

"In the end, it's not really about how high grade the ingredients are. Even low valued ingredients can be off good quality, you know." Ariadne assured her.

"Hey guys..." All three of them turned to look at Souma as he spoke. "I really think the Don RS should go with beef don too."

At this, Ariadne had to stick her fingers in her ears, Kanichi's loud voice threatening to burst her eardrums.

"Hey, Yukihira, were you listening to me?! With beef you can't possibly hope to beat Nikumi." Kanichi insisted.

"But Konishi-senpai, you said this. Don are "fast, tasty, and cheap". Nikumi is looking down on that, you know? To make her admit that don is good, we have to beat her using a convenient beef dish or it will be meaningless!" Souma explained.

"He makes a good point." Ariadne said, seeing where Souma was going with this.

To beat Mito, really beat her, they had to play at her game. How else could they really make her admit defeat?

"So...sometimes men have things they must protect even if it means to betray their beliefs." Kanichi said, though his tone didn't convey any kind of confidence in the idea.

"Whatever we do, we're about to run out of ingredients." Ariadne said, suddenly, her eyes travelling over what ingredients they had left.

Souma joined her, looking over what they had left.

"Let's buy some more. How much of the Don RS' club budget is left?" Souma asked.

"Ummm, that is..."

Souma and Ariadne turned to look at Kanichi who was suddenly sweating more than normal. He looked nervous enough to faint right then and there.

"What's up, senpai?" Souma asked.

"Well...the remaining budget...adding all I have is..."

Silence reigned over the room as Kanichi laid out all that was left of the budget. Ariadne had to blink as she counted and recounted. Finally, Souma yelled, it finally sinking in that the meager amount sitting before them, was all they had to use. Now feeling a little pressure, Souma made a run for the nearest ATM, to withdraw whatever money his father had deposited in his account.

Which wasn't that much either.

Ariadne, who had gone with him, glanced over his shoulder at the amount. Souma only turned his attention to her when she sighed before moving to the ATM, herself.

"Ari?"

"I can't offer up much, myself, but I should be able to give you enough to cover the vegetables and rice. You're on your own for the meat." she told him as she punched in her pin and money was spit out for her. Taking it in hand, she turned to a surprised Souma and gave him a smile. "What? I'm invested in this. Besides, like I said, it's not much."

Souma smiled back at her. It might not be that much to her, but it would turn out to mean a lot to Don RS. With that, at least, settled, the two headed back to the Don RS clubroom. They walked in to find Megumi and Kanichi piling up notebooks. The two looked up as Souma and Ariadne walked into the room.

"These are the Don RS' past recipe compilations! I brought them from the storehouse. There might be something we can use!" Kanichi told them.

Seeing the work Megumi and Kanichi had put in while they were gone, after having Ariadne offer to help with funds, fired Souma up.

"Alright! Let's do this!"

With that newly fired up spirit, Souma went back to testing dishes, getting Kanichi and Ariadne to taste them for him. They continued that way, Ariadne and Megumi making runs for ingredients, over the next day. By the time they reached the night before the Food War, Ariadne felt like she had gained twenty pounds and Kanichi was so dejected, they were resorting to throwing water at him just to snap him out of it long enough to try another dish.

It was late at night and Megumi and Ariadne were cleaning up notes off the floor while Souma sat in silent contemplation.

"Souma-kun...why don't you rest a bit?" Megumi suggested, approaching Souma. "If you have a change of pace you might come up with an idea to overcome this. Like in the first class...just kidding.

"Ah...that one. When I softened the meat with honey." Souma replied, his eyes landing on the notebook in Megumi's arms.

The cover read, "Japanese Style Steak Don".

Souma jumped up from his seat, Megumi letting out a squeak when he seized Megumi by the shoulders.

"You're a lifesaver, Tadokoro. There was one! A way to give impact to meat with convenient prices! Konishi-san! It can be any part, short loin, sirloin, or whatever! Do we have any beef steak left?!" Souma called, turning to Kanichi.

"Beef steak? You tried doing a Japanese style steak don just before, didn't you?! Just what are you..."

"There's some right here, Souma." Ariadne butted in, setting out the meat on a cutting board.

Souma got to work, cutting a net pattern into the meat before beating it to stretch it out. Watching as he covered both sides of the steak with finely chopped onion, letting it sit for a while, Ariadne had a feeling she knew what he was aiming for. They watched as he removed the onion, adding salt and pepper before grilling it. He then used the left over juices to fry the onions and reapplied the onions to the steak. He placed that on top of the rice.

"Huh...a Chaliapin Steak Don." Ariadne voiced in surprise.

"Now, all three of you, taste it!" Souma demanded.

Ariadne took one of the bowls, picking up her chopsticks. She found the steak tender enough to cut with chopsticks and when she took a bite, the meat came apart in her mouth with an explosion of flavor. Tasting it, it was hard to believe that it was a cheaply bought meat.

"It's so tender." Ariadne praised.

"Onions have enzymes that decompose proteins...just like pineapples and honey. That's why the meat becomes this tender." Souma explained.

"It's good, really Souma, but...I feel it's still lacking something." Ariadne remarked.

"I was thinking the same thing." Souma agreed.

"You're still going to modify it?" Kanichi asked.

"This finely chopped onion, I'll make it evolve into the best sauce that gives color to this don.." Souma answered.

"This means we're going to be up all night, doesn't it?" Ariadne asked.

"A little bit." Souma admitted.

"Eh...it beats going home and having to deal with Isshiki-senpai popping in for a chat through my ceiling tiles. Speaking of...remind me to buy some industrial strength super glue before we go back to the dorm."

Kanichi gave Souma and Megumi a questioning look when Ariadne said this, but Souma waved it off and Megumi only gave him a sheepish smile.

"Alright! Let's get to work!"

-0-0-0-0-

The next morning, Souma sent Kanichi and Ariadne out to gather the last ingredients and tools he would need for the battle.

"We somehow gathered the ingredients and tools needed for the match." Kanichi told Souma as Ariadne placed the last cooler down.

"Here's everything you asked for. I did a little shopping around but I found all the freshest ingredients at the lowest prices. You should be good." Ariadne added.

"Oh! Thanks, Konishi-san, Ari!" Souma told the two.

"Yukihira...did you sleep a bit? You were experimenting with the sauce until morning, right?" Kanichi asked.

"Hm, I'm okay, I'm okay!" Souma replied.

"Are you sure about that, _mon amie_?" Ariadne asked, giving him a concerned once over.

"Yeah, I'll be good." Souma assured her.

Meanwhile, Megumi was off to the side, already freaking out, even though it wasn't her taking part in the Food War.

"Awawah, t-there's so many people...Souma-kun, do-don't panic, a-a-at any rate, calm down!" Megumi said. "I-i-in times like this, you have to write the kanji of person on your hand."

"Y-yeah, for the time being, you swallow it, okay?" Souma told her.

"Honestly, Megumi. _Ma chérie_, you're nervous enough for all four of us." Ariadne told Megumi, giving her a smile. "I mean, look at Souma. He's calm as can be."

Megumi turned to Souma, who was calmly checking to make sure everything was together and ready for the Food War.

"Aren't you nervous? You're going to cook in front of so many people? Just by thinking what would happen if it was me..." Megumi trailed off, a shiver shaking her small form.

"Not at all, I mean, compared to standing in front of the customers while carrying on your shop's name, this isn't scary at all." Souma told her.

"You just need to learn out to get our of your head, Megumi." Ariadne told her, giving her a smile.

"_Thank you for waiting! The Food War Administration Bureau has recognized this match as an official Food War! Soon it will start!_"

Hearing the voice over the speakers told them that it was about time to start. Ariadne gave Souma a nod, the boy smiling back at her.

"_We have three judges! The theme is don! The main ingredient is meat! Well then, from each corner, both contestants will enter! The first one to appear is the Meat Master...Mito Ikumi! Now, next, Yukihira Souma-kun makes his entry!_"

Ariadne, along with Kanichi and Megumi, joined Souma in walking out. Though, unlike Kanichi and Megumi, who both hid behind Souma, Ariadne strutted out like a peacock proudly showing it's feathers. She had no problem being the center of attention, or, in this case, semi-center. She was far too amused with the fact that Souma entered the arena to a loud roar of boos. It was obvious that everyone there hoped that Souma went down in flames.

"You transferred just a few days ago, right? What did you do to get hated this much?" Kanichi asked Souma.

"Well...nothing really, I was pretty normal." Souma replied, clueless.

Ariadne couldn't hold back a laugh at that. Souma gave her a questioning look, showing just how dense he was, but Ariadne simply waved him off, shaking her head at him. Ariadne simply shooed him off towards Mito, giving him a wink before joining Megumi and Kanichi on the sidelines. Just as the boos were dying down, gasps replaced those jeers as Erina, herself, made an appearance.

With everyone in place, Ariadne, Megumi and Kanichi taking seats in chairs set out for them, the Food War was called to a start.

As they thought, Mito brought out her best A5 meat for the battle, expertly breaking it down until she had the cut she wanted. Ariadne, leaning back in her chair with her legs crossed, watched Mito as she moved about her station, starting her cooking. On the other hand, Souma was finishing up with chopping a large amount of onion. That done, he pulled his meat out of a bag, revealing a discount steak Souma had been lucky to catch on sale.

Ariadne couldn't help but laugh as the crowd reacted badly to that. Apparently they thought Souma was taking them for fools, bringing in such cheaply bought food. Ariadne, though, had a feeling that Souma was going to teach them all that it didn't matter how much one spent on their ingredients.

Through the whole cooking process, Mito kept up her smack talk, Souma ignoring her for the most part. When they finally entered the judging part of the Food War, it was Mito and her Japanese Beef Roti Don, that went before the judges first.

Just seeing the dish from where she sat, made Ariadne's mouth water. The way Mito had arranged her meat on top of the rice, made it look like a flower had bloomed there. It was both delicious looking and pretty to look at. Going by the judges' reactions, it was just as delicious as it looked. All three judges gave her dish a raving review, complimenting her juicy meat and tasty garlic rice.

When Souma stepped up to have his dish judged, many of the students watching thought the battle was already over, that there was no way Souma could match up to Mito. Even the judges thought so. The judges were silenced, though, when Souma presented his dish. One bite was all it took to have all three judges scarfing down Souma's food.

Surprised by the deep flavor and taste to Souma's dish, the judges couldn't stop from continuing to eat. It was then that Souma revealed a secret to his dish, that he had mixed pickled plums into the rice to give it a refreshing taste. It was so good that once the judges had emptied their bowls, they even requested seconds while they hadn't even completely finished Mito's dish.

The whole thing left Mito completely stunned and she couldn't figure out what was so different between their rice that the judges hadn't even bothered to finish hers.

"You're thinking what happened to the rice? Right?" Souma asked from behind Mito. "From the moment I heard from Konishi-san that you were using cured Japanese beef, I knew that if you made the rice with a strong flavor to counter the beef's deliciousness, they would naturally fight each other. Your dish looks like a don but it isn't a don! The Don RS's chief said this too, to the end don are completed in one bowl."

"Even if you grumble sophisms, there's no way you can win against my high-grade me-"

"If you can't accept it, then do you want to listen to them too? The words that my don says?" Souma asked, cutting Mito off as he held out another bowl of his don.

Mito took it from him, to see what the difference was. Like with the judges, it only took one bite for her to start devouring it. She knew she had lost, even before the judges announced that the winner was a cheer from Megumi and Kanichi, Souma was declared the winner. Ariadne joined the two as they hurried over Souma.

"You...really are an amazing man, Yukihira. You're the only one who can carry on with the Don RS." Kanichi said, laying a hand on Souma's shoulder. "The next Don RS's Don is you! Yukihira!"

Ariadne slapped a hand over her mouth, fighting back the urge to laugh when Kanichi was quickly shot down.

"But, I won't join the club." Souma told him. "I mean, I just went to see what it was like. Well, but, thanks to that, I was able to make a new don dish."

Kanichi couldn't believe his ears. He turned to Ariadne, hoping that she, at least, would join his pitifully small club. Ariadne was waving him off before he had even fully turned to her.

"I wasn't looking to join any of the clubs. I was merely tagging along. Sorry to disappoint." Ariadne informed him. "With that said, I was up late last night and my body demands either sweets or sleep. I fully intend to fulfill both demands. Best of luck, Kanichi-senpai!"

Ariadne gave Kanichi's shoulder a pat before she took off towards the exit, Megumi hot on her heels, really to get home and stuff her mouth with some chocolates she had hidden in a box in the back of her closet. Though, the more she thought about the chocolates, the more she craved something a little more filling. The question then became, what did she want to make.

"Hmm...hey, Megumi, what would you say to taste testing a cannoli for me?" Ariadne asked, turning to the girl walking at her side.

"Uh, sure." Megumi agreed.

"_Géniale!_ I have some really good chocolates that my brother sent me, that would make the perfect filling!" Ariadne said happily, already feeling more awake at the idea of getting into the kitchen and cooking.

"You really like sweets, don't you, Ari?" Megumi asked.

"But of course! My family specializes in sweet recipes, and, no, I don't just mean pastries and sweets." Ariadne replied.

"You mean like that sweet stew you made the first day of classes?" Megumi asked.

"Exactly! You'd be surprised how many dishes can be slightly changed to have a sweet taste and still be delicious." Ariadne told her. "That was my parents' specialty and it's mine now."

"It must be difficult, finding ways to balance certain foods and spices with a sweet taste." Souma remarked, having caught up to the two girls.

"There are some dishes that aren't meant to be sweet, and, in those cases, I have to become very creative, but I've managed to make it work thus far. I don't relish the day I finally come across a dish in which I can't manage that." Ariadne replied.

"I'm sure you'd be able to manage." Souma told her.

"Well, thank you for the vote of confidence. It's nice to have support." Ariadne replied, smiling brightly.

If she was being honest, when Ariadne had first arrived in Japan, she had been justifiably concerned that she would have no support that didn't come from over six thousand miles away. She was glad to see, that for the time being, she had been wrong.

That support system would come in handy in the weeks and months to come.

-0-0-0-0-

The next morning, Isshiki decided to ask a favor of Ariadne.

Ariadne had already been up for some time, tending to a few young date and coconut palms she had managed to bring with her from home. Since both could be used to make natural sweeteners, Ariadne like having them on hand. She was in the middle of checking the soil they were growing out of when there wsa a thud from over head.

Ariadne looked up at the ceiling tiles over her head, a smirk curling her lips as there was a following series of thuds before they faded into the distance. She had made sure, the night before, before she went to bed, that she had completely super glued every ceiling tile in her room so that Isshiki couldn't use them to pop in whenever he wanted to.

Turning back to her work, Ariadne started to hum to herself. A few minutes later, Isshiki's voice reached her from the pipes curling up out of her floor.

"_Uh...Ari-chan...did you happen to do something to the ceiling tiles in your room?_"

Ariadne turned towards the pipes, her amusement obvious in her tone as she answered him.

"Come now, Isshiki-senpai. You can't honestly expect me, a young girl in a foreign country, to allow for such an invasion of privacy, now can you? If you need to talk to me, you can come to my door, or talk to me through the pipes like you are now." she told him. "Now, is there something you need?

"_Uh, yes! I need you to help me out with something! Can you come outside?_" Isshiki asked with a nervous chuckle.

"Of course, senpai. I'll be there in a moment."

Ariadne gave a shake of her head as he happily agreed. She wrapped up her work with her plants before she headed out. She ran into Souma in the hall, Isshiki having asked him for help too, and the two headed downstairs together. They met up with Yuuki as she was about to head out the door.

"Ahaha! Yukihira, you were woken up too?" Yuuki asked.

"You too, Yoshino?" Souma replied, Yuuki nodding. "And you, Ari?"

"I was already awake. Glad I was. Listening to Isshiki-senpai struggle with trying to get the ceiling tiles open in my room only to fail, was amusing." Ariadne replied.

"What did you to the ceiling tiles?" Yuuki asked.

"I bought some industrial strength super glue and sealed them all up last night." Ariadne told her. "Well, all but one. That one is just latched shut from my side. I only left that one in case there ever comes a time when I might possibly need it."

"That's really smart." Souma compliments.

"_Merci!_"

"What are we helping with?" Souma asked, changing the subject.

"He said we're harvesting vegetables in the field behind the dorm." Yuuki replied.

"Wow, to think he even grows his own ingredients." Souma praised.

"There's a lot of people who do that in the Polar Star dorm." Yuuki replied. Ibusaki cuts the wood he uses for smoking by himself. Ryoko's specialty is cooking using "Shiokouji". So she has her own workshop close to the dorm. I too, just like in France there's Bresse chickens, I wanted to make Polar Star chicken, so I've been grazing and raising them."

"I do it too." Ariadne said, drawing attention to her. "I just applied for use of one of the attached greenhouses to the dorm for when my specialty plants arrive. For now, I'm nursing a date palm and a coconut palm in my room. My father use to tell me that if you want the best of produce, there's only two way to get it. Either be the first to the seller or grow it yourself. I leaned more to the latter."

"See? And, this place is mainly managed by Isshiki-senpai!" Yuuki added as they rounded the side of the dorm building.

Before them spread a beautifully maintained garden, greenhouses sitting to the far left. While Ariadne had a decent sized garden back home, it was limited to a single greenhouse. This was far more than that. She felt the urge to explore well up in her chest.

That is...until she caught sight of Isshiki plowing a field.

"_Mon Dieu!_ What is it with this boy and his clothes?!" Ariadne demanded when she caught sight of the simply loin cloth-type covering that Isshiki was wearing.

Aside from that, a pair of rubber boots, and a sun hat, the boy wore nothing else.

On the opposite of end of Isshiki's bare essentials style, there was Megumi who looked adorable in her sunhat, apron, and over-all gardener clothes. She greeted them with a bright smile, proudly showing them all the delicious looking vegetables she had managed to pick that morning. It was so cute, Ariadne couldn't keep herself from flying forward to hug Megumi, pressing one of her cheeks to Megumi's.

"You're so adorable, Megumi! I could just hug you all day~!" Ariadne told her, making the other girl blush. "When I go back home, you have to let me take you with me. Just for a little trip."

Megumi didn't know how to reply to that, but Souma and Yuuki stood back, feeling highly doubtful that it would be just "a little trip". Ariadne seemed like the type that liked to collect cute things. It didn't hurt that they were becoming good friends.

"Now, my friend, come here!" Isshiki called, Ariadne finally releasing Megumi. "Knowing how ingredients ripen is part of studying cooking. This is the Polar Star field...you can also call it Isshiki Field if you want! Here, have a bite."

Isshiki handed Ariadne and Souma each a tomato so fat and juicy, it barely fit in their palms. Ariadne raised it to her mouth, taking a bite. She immediately hummed to herself as the sweetness spread across her tongue.

"So sweet!" she praised.

"Yeah. It's firm and really sweet...I even want to have a stock of this at home. I'm amazed you could get this quality." Souma complimented after taking a bite.

"Well, actually, I'm devoted to this. Thanks to this, I haven't gone to my classes at all lately!" Isshiki told them.

"How haven't you been failed yet?" Ariadne demanded.

Isshiki merely gave her a sheepish smile.

"Oh, yes! Ari-chan!" Ariadne looked up after taking another bite of her tomato. "You're request for the use of one of our greenhouses went through. Greenhouse three is now all yours."

"_Vraiment? C'est génial!_ That's great! Thank you! I'm suppose to receive some of my more commonly used herbs and spices from my siblings this week. It'll be amazing to have the greenhouse ready and waiting!" Ariadne cheered.

Souma and the others laughed as Ariadne seized Isshiki by his wrist and dragged him off, politely demanding he show her which greenhouse would be hers. Ariadne was happy to find the greenhouse already in order. She enlisted Isshiki's help in moving what plants she had, into the greenhouse and spent an hour getting them settled into their new home and making the greenhouse her own. Once that was done, she rejoined the others in picking vegetables from the garden.

Around noon, they took a break, Megumi bringing them a lunch of Three Kinds Onigiri. The onigiri mixed with the barley tea and roasted green tea Megumi brought them, had Ariadne sighing in content.

"You're a splendid cook, Megumi." Ariadne told her.

"This is the charm of Tadokoro-chan's cooking. It brings peace to the people who eat it." Isshiki agreed.

"The chicken breast isn't dried out and the pork is perfectly soft. All of these were carefully done." Souma praised before delivering the killing blow to Megumi. "Why can't you do this in classes?"

"Uh...I have stage fright...when I get nervous my head goes blank and I always make mistakes." Megumi replied.

"You just need to learn to relax a little bit, and just have fun with your cooking, Megumi." Ariadne told her, giving her a soft smile.

"She's right!" Isshiki agreed.

Megumi didn't seem too sure about that, but she let it go as they finished up their food and went back to work. By the time they were all done and headed back to the dorm, there was an information booklet addressed to the inhabitants of the dorm waiting for them.

"It finally came." Yuuki remarked, staring down at it.

"Yeah, it's addressed to the Polar Star Dorm." Shun added.

"What's this?" Souma asked.

Ariadne looked over his shoulder, reading the cover that was decorated by a little cartoon chef.

"Training lodging? I don't understand." Ariadne remarked.

"That's right. You're from France, right, Ari-chan? You don't have things like this." Isshiki remarked. "Here, kids have them in primary and middle school, too. It's outdoor school for a few days."

"I see, but why would a cooking school do something like this?" Ariadne asked.

"And why is Tadokoro trembling?" Souma asked. "It's like the smile she had just now was a lite."

"Yukihira, Air...you see, this training camp is the first hell the new high school section students have to go through!" Yuuki told them. "All of the first year students are assigned with rigorous cooking trials every day in the boarding house in the middle of the mountains. It is said that those who can't get passing marks are immediately expelled!"

So, in other words, where the booklet called it "Friendship and Rapport Training Lodging" it was more along the lines of "Cruel Elimination Training Lodging".

"This is Totsuki's competitive education. As the Academy's director would say, the "jewel" selection has genuinely begun." Isshiki added.

"So that means you went to this training camp last year, Isshiki-senpai?" Ariadne asked.

"Yes, of course. Even in my generation, every day dozens of students were forcibly sent home and expelled. It truly is severe." Isshiki replied.

"It seems that some years ago, the number of students was reduced to less than half after that training camp." Shun added.

At hearing this, Megumi fainted, Yuuki catching her before she could hit the floor. Ariadne, thought, was intrigued. She always did like a challenge, and, while severe, this was definitely a challenge. While the others were freaking out about the training camp, Souma and Ariadne were looking through the list of items they were and were not allowed to bring.

"I see, I see...you can bring card decks and shogi." Souma muttered.

"But no portable game consoles." Ariadne pointed out, looking over his shoulder. "But isn't that bath time a little too short?"

"Hey, hey...! Yukihira, Ari! Why are you so carelessly getting in trip mood? Megumi is even saying her last words!" Yuuki snapped at them.

"Megumi is not saying her last words. She's just letting her anxiety get the best of her." Ariadne replied, looking up from the booklet.

"Anyway, half will survive, right? We just have to be in that half." Souma added.

"I'm confident that we'll be fine." Ariadne assured Yuuki, turning her attention back to the booklet in Souma's hands.

Yuuki couldn't believe her ears. She glared at the two with a mix of anger and disbelief. Not that either of them saw the look directed their way.

"I'm confident too." Isshiki said, smiling as attention turned to him. "That all of the students in the Polar Star Dorm will come back here smiling. Leave the house-sitting to Fumio-san and me. You all should just do your best!"

"He's right." Ryoko agreed.

"You two can say pretty nice things." Yuuki remarked, getting fired up. "We of the Polar Star are so fearsome even kids stop crying!"

"Kids stop crying?" Shun asked.

"We'll clear that training camp with ease!" Yuuki added, ignoring him.

Ariadne didn't know about ease, but they would definitely try.

If only she had known what she was getting into.

END

Kyandi: I just realized, talking to a friend of mine who reads my stories...trying to say your name and Erina's, back to back, gets me all tongue tied.

Ariadne: I can see that. Then again, saying my name, period, gets you tongue tied sometimes.

Kyandi: I'm trying my best! You aren't the only character I have that their name trips me up.

Ariadne: I know, I know, now breathe.

Kyandi: I am. Anyway, I have a lot of work to do, today.

Ariadne: So we need to wrap this up?

Kyandi: Yes. Everyone, please enjoy and review.

Ariadne: We will return as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


	4. Queen of Flirting

Kyandi: Hey, everyone!

Ariadne: We have returned.

Kyandi: And I laughed the entire time I was writing this chapter!

Ariadne: She finds my reactions and the reactions of others towards me, to be hilarious.

Kyandi: And they are. Just watch, the readers will agree.

Ariadne: I'm sure they will.

Kyandi: Wait...are you teasing me?

Ariadne: I don't know, am I?

Kyandi: ...Sometimes I wonder why I created you.

Ariadne To showcase the fun side of you.

Kyandi: I guess. Anyway, everything, please enjoy and review.

Ariadne: Kyandi-sama does not own Shokugeki no Soma.

Chapter 4 Queen of Flirting

Over the next few days, everyone prepared themselves for the training camp. In the midst of their preparation, Ariadne ended up dancing through the front hall when half a dozen crates arrived for her from a villa in Marseille, France. Ariadne was able to get help from the boys to move the crates. The first four, which were filled with properly packed plants, went to her greenhouse, where Ariadne got to work setting them up where she wanted them.

The others were surprised by the plants she unpacked. There was everything from sugarcane, a cocoa tree, lavender, dianthus, thyme, several types of berries and many more. She had everything from spices, flowers, and more.

And, apparently...each plants had a special nickname.

After seeing Ariadne put a name card baring the name "Lindor" in front of her cocoa tree, Souma concluded that Ariadne, like the rest of their dorm mates, had her own...quirks.

The last two crates, though, were taken to Ariadne's room. As soon as she opened one, she quickly replaced the lid before any of them could see what was inside and shooed everyone out of the room. When they protested, Ariadne simply replied that it was a "family secret" and she couldn't let them see, before she apologized and closed the door in their faces.

Though they were curious, Ariadne wasn't in the sharing mood, leaving them to focus on their task of preparing for the training camp.

On the morning they were to leave for camp, Ariadne was awaken to Daigo and Shoji yelling at the top of their lungs because Isshiki had popped into their room to make sure they were up and going. Giving a shake of her head, Ariadne got out of bed, making her bed before she started changing. She had checked her bags the night before and was sure she had everything she would need.

Once dressed in her school uniform, deciding to tie her blazer around her waist, Ariadne grabbed her two bags and headed downstairs where her dorm mates were checking and double checking their things. About the only truly calm ones, aside from herself, was Souma and Shun.

Of course, no one was freaking out as badly as Zenji asked.

To Ariadne, it looked like the boy was about to pop a blood vessel, he was so worked up.

After making sure they had everything and bidding Isshiki and Fumio goodbye, they headed out to meet up with the rest of the first years. What they found was a ridiculous, bumper to bumper, line-up of luxury travel buses. Ariadne had to stop for a moment and blinking, trying to take it all in. She had known there were a lot of first years, but it still blew her mind to be reminded of just how many students there were, and how much money the school had to throw around.

Souma, though, didn't even seemed fazed. He stood at the head of their little group, a big grin on his face.

"Alright, let's go! To the Friendship and Rapport Hellish Training Camp!" he declared.

"I don't really think it was necessary to add that last part, Souma." Ariadne told him as they went to check their bags.

After handing their luggage over to be stowed away, they each went in search of seats. Ariadne ended up sitting next to Megumi, much to the other girl's relief. Mostly because Megumi knew Ariadne and it was better than sitting next to someone she really didn't know, but also because Ariadne had pack traveling snacks and the girl's cookies and muffins were the best Megumi had ever had.

The whole trip, the two chatted, laughed and snacked, Megumi tell Ariadne about the inn her family ran, Ariadne telling Megumi about the villa she had grown up in that over looked the Marseillian port. Megumi found out that Ariadne was actually the heiress of what she called a "small chain of adorable cafes". She wouldn't, however, tell Megumi the name of the place. It made Megumi wonder if was more popular than Ariadne was willing to admit.

When they arrived at their location, and got off the bus to look up at the building that would be the location of their training camp, Ariadne had to lean as far back as she could, shading her eyes, in order to see the top of the large building, a low whistle slipping free of her lips.

"If anyone else can think of any other word than gaudy for this usual display of money, I'm all ears." Ariadne remarked.

"As expected from a rich school. They even have a great hotel like this one." Souma said in agreement with Ariadne.

"Totsuki is the parent organization of all the hotels and ryokan of this area." Shun told them.

"What's a ryokan?" Ariadne asked.

"Its a traditional Japanese inn that typically features tatami-matted rooms, communal baths and most clients walk around in super soft yukata!" Yuuki explained.

"Oh, I see. Well, I'm not surprised that a powerful and rich school like Totsuki oversees so much." Ariadne remarked.

"Dozens of inns are managed by a brand named "Totsuki Resort". There're a lot of cases of the Academy's graduates finding employment on the cooking department of these resorts." Shun added.

"You know, it is started to sound suspiciously like we are being groomed to work for Totsuki. Or, at least that that's what they want." Ariadne remarked, her hands going to her hips.

She wouldn't put it past a bit organization like Totsuki to do something like that. What better way to find quality employees than to raise and groom them themselves? Souma and the others agreed with her on that thought.

"Only during this season, they don't accept guests and they're used for the training camp. I've heard that, on normal days, on night cost eight thousand yen." Shun added.

Even Ariadne was choked by the amount. She turned wide eyes on Shun, unable to believe her ears.

"That's over six hundred and seventy euros! That about how much my siblings and I spend on our food budget alone for about ten days." Ariadne said shocked.

She couldn't imagine spending that amount of money on just a one night stay in a hotel, no matter how fancy it was.

"That's already the rent for one month!" Souma added.

"Ehh, we're really staying here!? I'm getting excited!" Yuuki cheered.

"Only if we can survive today's assignment." Shun retorted, raining on her parade.

"Ibusaki, you just whisper things that ruin the mood." Yuuki pouted.

"I'm a realist. Look...we have to gather soon." Shun replied.

Ariadne just smiled when Yuuki turned to complain to her. She gave Yuuki's a head a pat, but insisted that they follow the others, least they be left behind and end up in trouble. Yuuki continued to hang off her arm as they followed the other students to the banquet hall where they would await further instructions. There, they found one of the most tense and smothering atmospheres Ariadne had ever come across.

The room was dead silent, despite the number of teenagers present. Some sat quietly, jittery with nerves, others paced in their small little area, wearing footprints of worry into the rich carpet. It made Ariadne and her friends wonder just how many of the nearly one thousand students present, would survive the training camp.

It was then that the silence was broken by Souma, who had just caught sight of Mito.

"Oh! Isn't that Nikumi?" Souma called out, making Mito come to a screeching halt, her shoulders going stiff before she rounded on him. "It's been a while!"

"Hey, Yukihira! Why are you calling her using her nickname?!" Yuuki demanded.

"Eh, but I have her consent, right, Nikumi?" Souma replied.

"Like hell you have it!"

Ariadne clamped a hand over her mouth, hiding a smile and laugh as Mito snapped back at Souma, the boy giving her a clueless look. Ariadne's laugh trailed off, though, when she noticed the amount of eyes on Souma. After his declaration at the opening ceremony, Ariadne wasn't surprised that Souma had all the attention. People would be hoping, with all their might, that he failed during the training camp. She was surprised, however, when some of those looks and whispers, were directed at her. As far as she knew, she had been pleasant and not insulting in the least during her introduction.

Right?

Ariadne was just starting to ponder this, when a sudden voice over a mic, drew her attention to the stage at the head of the banquet hall. There, mic in hand, stood Chef Chapelle.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Pay attention to the stage. I'm going to explain the outline of this training camp." Chef Chapelle told them. "It's scheduled to be five nights and six days. Every day, you'll be given an assignment related to cooking, the contents of these assignments vary every year. On the first day, the nine hundred and eighty students will be separated into twenty groups. After this explanation is done, each of you must go to the place you're appointed to. If the lecturers' evaluation for a students goes below a certain line, that student is disqualified. Those students will be forcibly sent home on board the buses that go to the academy and they will be expelled."

It seemed harsh, but Ariadne had already known that they would start working down the number of students. She supposed this was a good way to go about it. It certainly got them away from the school where the teachers could focus on them and them alone.

"About the judging," Chef Chapelle continued. "We invited guest lecturers. As busy as they are, they gathered here just for today. They're Totsuki Academy's alumni."

Out onto the stage came a stream of people. Though she didn't recognize all of them, some of them were big enough names that even Ariadne knew who they were. One in particular, who was a famous chef in France. It was that very same chef, that came to a stop, raising his nose to the air to give it a whiff.

"Hmm...you on the ninth line starting from the front, the boy with the scar on the eyebrow." he called.

Souma, who easy fit the vague description, pointed to himself in questioning, unsure what he could have done to draw attention so soon.

"Ah, sorry, sorry, the one next to him. That's right, you." the man said, fixing his eyes on the boy to Souma's right. "You're expelled. You may go home."

"What?!"

Everyone turned to the boy as he yelled out in shock. He no more understood why than anyone around him did. The man, a renowned chef by the name of Shinomiya Kojirou, decided to have mercy and explain why.

"Your hairdressing product has a citrus smell, that may overshadow the food's aroma. Being stylish is a must, if the person who makes food is out of fashion the food won't have any sensuality. But, starting next time you should pick a scent-free hair liquid." Shinomiya told the boy.

"Wa...wait, please! What...expelled!? Just because of thi-"

The boy was cut off as Shinomiya turned one of the iciest looks Ariadne had ever seen on him.

"You can lose clients just because of that. Do you want to shut down my shop?" Shinomiya demanded, dismissing the boy with a wave of his hand.

Ariadne felt bad for the boy, but it wasn't like she could really say anything. Not that she really knew what to say anyhow.

Aside from Shinomiya, there were other top class chefs, like Mizuhara Fuyumi who owned an Italian restaurant, Sekimori Hiyoshi who was strictly about sushi, and Auberge "Tesoro" Donato Gotouda who instantly zeroed in on Megumi standing beside Ariadne.

"I might have been born to meet you. Don't you want to talk all night in my Auberge?" he asked Megumi, taking her hand in both of his.

"_Excusez-moi_, Chef, but she really can't at the moment." Ariadne said, wrapping an arm around Megumi while giving the man a politely smile, trying to save her friend from an obviously embarrassing situation.

Thankfully, another chef stepped in, this one being a woman by the name Inui Hinako. If Ariadne had to describe the woman's appearance in one word, it would be "motherly". She pushed Chef Gotouda away from Megumi and Ariadne, taking one of Megumi's hands in both of hers, before leaning close to her.

"I'm sorry...he made you have a scary experience. By the way, you're cute. Ah...you look very filling..." Chef Inui told Megumi.

Ariadne had to fight not to pout. She had never considered that she would have to defend adorable Megumi from a woman. Then Chef Inui's eyes turned to Ariadne and, in the next moment, Ariadne found her cheek being cupped by the older woman.

"Oh, my! You're adorable, too! So sweet I could just eat you." Chef Inui told her.

So she was flirting with Ariadne.

Well, Ariadne would never let it be said that she couldn't play that game, too.

Putting the sultry smile she possessed on her face, Ariadne let her eyes fall to half mast as she leaned her cheek into Chef Inui's hand. It surprised the older woman, but nowhere near as much as what came out of Ariadne's mouth next.

"Oh, I'm sweet alright...a sweet disaster. And you shouldn't make suggestions that you can't keep." Ariadne purred lowly, enjoying the shocked looks that fell on both Megumi's and Chef Inui's faces. Apparently Chef Inui never expected either of them to flirt back. Pulling her cheek away from a stunned Chef Inui's hand, Ariadne expertly shifted her sultry grin for a sweet, innocent one, raising her voice back to normal levels. "You might want to go now, Madam Chef. Chef Chapelle is glaring at you from the stage."

That finally snapped Chef Inui out of her surprise, the woman giving the two girls a smile before turning to head back to the stage.

"Come to my shop one of these days!" she called to Ariadne and Megumi, Ariadne giving her a smile and wave before dropping a hand on top of a red-in-the-face Megumi.

"And that, _moi amie_, is how you handle the unsolicited flirting of another." Ariadne told Megumi, giving her head a pat before refocusing her attention forward.

She missed the look Megumi turned on her, the nervous girl clearly thinking, "But how do I handle **you**.". Ariadne, on the other hand, focused in on the stage as another chef, another that Ariadne actually knew, stepped out on stage.

General Head Chef and member of the Board of Directors for Totsuki Resort, Chef Doujima Gin.

As the person who had passed Totsuki's graduation exam with the highest marks since the founding of the school, it was hard for Ariadne not to know who he was. She was both amazed and intrigued to see the man in person. Chef Chapelle handed the microphone over to Doujima then.

"Welcome to Totsuki Resort. The alumni that gathered today are all chefs that have their own shops. For the six days of this training camp, they will be treating you s if you were employees at their shops. Do you understand what this means? People whose work can't satisfy us **are fired**." Doujima told them, slashing a thumb across the front of his throat. "As you could see, you may be forced to leave immediately depending on the lecturers' discretion. I wish you the best of luck! Well then, start moving!"

"Well, you heard the man." Ariadne remarked, turning to her friends.

"Yep! See you!" Yuuki called, heading off in one direction.

"Yeah." Shun agreed, heading in the opposite direction.

"Yeah! We're having a card tournament at Marui's room tonight!" Souma called, following Ariadne and Megumi.

"We don't have to gather in my room even in times like this, right?" Zenji called, but everyone had already gone their separate ways.

Ariadne, Souma, and Megumi changed and found that they had ended up in the same group, much to Megumi's relief, because it put her with Souma as a partner once more. Ariadne ended up with the same partner as her first day in Chef Chapelle's class, putting her with a boy name Kirimatsu. Kirimatsu stood back while Ariadne stood with Souma as Megumi came running towards him, eyes bright with unshed tears.

"I'm glad...I'm together with Souma-kun." Megumi cried.

"Yeah! Let's do our best." Souma agreed, turning his eyes to Ariadne. "You good with your partner, Ari?"

"Oh, yeah! He's a good guy and can keep up with my spur-of-the-moment requests." Ariadne replied, her partner going red in the face behind her.

He hadn't expected her to compliment him.

"You're Yukihira Souma...right?"

Souma and Ariadne turned as someone else putted into their conversation. The slight accent told Ariadne that he wasn't Japanese way before his naturally blonde hair did. The boy wore a smile on his face as he approached them, but when Souma confirmed who he was, the boy suddenly drove a heel down on the toes of Souma's left foot, giving it a few twists for good measure. It surprised Souma, but the boy merely shoved his hands in his pockets and gave the blond boy a cocky-looking smile.

"You grinded for over ten seconds...I can assume it was on purpose, right?" Souma asked.

"Naturally. I expected that we would be together sometime during this training camp, but I never thought it would be on the first assignment. I'll crush you flat! Just like I crushed your shoe!" the boy declared.

Talk about a challenge out of left field. Ariadne hadn't been expecting something like this right from the start. Then again, it was Souma being challenged and the boy, as she had stated before, had a way of rubbing people the wrong way. Seeing the tense, sharp looks between Souma and the blond, Megumi grew anxious.

"Umm...this training campus difficult as it is, so i-it isn't time to be fighting." Megumi tried to tell them, but they weren't listening.

"I'm so happy I can finally crush you, Yukihira Souma!" the blond insisted.

"Is that so? That's good for you! I got that you're picking a fight with me, so can you move your foot!" Souma retorted.

Ariadne heaved a sigh, shaking her head lightly at the folly of the two. Thankfully, their glaring contest was interrupted when their lecturer, Chef Inui, suddenly spoke from where she sat at the front of the room, a try of tea beside her.

"Okay, then everyone, I'll be sitting here so, if there's anything you don't understand about the assignment, go ahead and ask." she told them all as she opened a bag of kaki seeds.

"Alright. How about we start with the obvious question...what is our assignment, Chef Inui?" Ariadne asked, the others agreeing. "You have yet to give us one."

"Ah...is that so? Then, I must explain!" Chef Inui got to her feet and gestured to a window through which they could see the mountain and field scenery outside. "My assignment is use the ingredients you can find here to make any Japanese cuisine main dish!"

"'Here'? There are no ingredients anywh-"

"But they are there. The splendorous nature, the clear stream goes by, is a wonderful treasury of ingredients." Chef Inui said, cutting off the girl speaking.

Ariadne suddenly understand what the chef was getting at.

They had to hunt down their own ingredients.

"The area that contains this building has been Totsuki Academy's private land since ancient times, and it's surrounded by a fence. If you go past that fence you're immediately disqualified. You must gather ingredients inside this limited area and cook them. If you can make a dish that can satisfy me, you pass!" Chef Inui announced. That was just what Ariadne had thought. "This room has seasonings, oil, and cookware. you can also freely use the tools like fishing rods that are inside the storehouse. The time limit is two hours! Well then, ready, set, go."

All around Ariadne, people begun to freak out, all of them instantly starting to wonder what fish would be in season and what they could make from that. Ariadne was lost in thought when another boy, wearing the same chef's outfit as the blond who stepped on Souma's foot, joined the blond. He was taller, bigger, and dark haired verses blond, but Ariadne wondered if they were related.

"Oooo...hey there, big boy." Ariadne greeted, smile on her face.

She gave the boy a wink and a click of her tongue when he looked down at her, and enjoyed the resulting red stain to his cheeks. Appearances and things like being over-weight, had never mattered to Ariadne. In fact, she actually found his big size to be kind of cute.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Isami Aldini."

Ariadne blinked in surprise when, unlike everyone around them, including herself when she was speaking to a native Japanese speaker, he introduced himself with his given name first. That only confirmed that the two weren't from Japan, despite the Japanese sounding given name.

"Ariadne Sinclair. Call me Ari."

The two smiled at each other, getting along better than a certain other two. The blond, however, ignored her completely.

"Let's have a match, Yukihira." he told Souma.

"A match, you say?" Souma asked.

"Let's see who is better. Chef Inui!" The blond turned towards the woman. "I'd like you to make the final decision for this! Which of our dishes is a true delicacy. Please judge it impartially!"

"Eh...why? It's not related to the assignment so I don't want to." Chef Inui replied.

Ariadne had to slap a hand over her mouth, stifling the urge to laugh out loud. The slight trembling that set into the boy's boy, mixed with the blush that reached back to his ears, was evidence enough that he was embarrassed beyond belief. Souma couldn't let it slide either.

"Hey, hey, what are you going to do about this?" Souma demanded, snickering. "The mood got awkward because you got too excited."

To make matters worse, the big, dark haired boy with the blond, starting laughing too, tears streaming from his eyes at how hard he was laughing.

"So uncool! You're so uncool, nii-chan!" he gasped, still laughing.

_So they are related. Brothers, huh?_

Ignoring his brother's laughter, the blond turned back to Souma, pointing a finger at him.

"Anyway! I definitely won't lose to you! I'll make a dish that is better than yours! Do you understand, Yukihiraaaaa!"

Ariadne waved as Isami dragged his brother away. With that, Ariadne bid Souma and Megumi good luck and turned to her partner, who was already making his way to the storehouse to get a fishing rod.

"Hold it right there." Ariadne told him, grabbing hold of his collar to pull him to a stop. "Where are you off to, Kirimatsu?"

"We have to get a move on and catch some fish." he replied.

"Yeah, we're not going with fish. Everyone else will be going with fish." Ariadne replied.

"Then what are we suppose to do?" Kirimatsu asked.

"There's a mountain and fields out there. There's bound to be more than just fish. First, we go have a look at what other kinds of things we can find. Then we'll decide from there." Ariadne told him.

With a nod, he followed her outside, where they quickly went about exploring. In just twenty minutes, they came across ducks, chickens, even rabbits. Standing at a distance, watching as some ducks swam by in the river nearby, and a couple of fat and juicy rabbits bounced on by, Ariadne stopped to think, arms crossed.

They were suppose to use what they could find to make a Japanese dish.

Then it hit Ariadne.

"Kirimatsu, I have a couple of things I want you to check on back in the storehouse and kitchen." Ariadne said, turning to her partner with a grin on her face.

She sent her partner back to the building with a list of things to look for. When he came back with a positive on just about everything she had asked for, Ariadne knew what they were going to make. Kirimatsu watched, with wide eyes as Ariadne set a handmade trap to catch what they needed before killing it. Ariadne loaded it up in a bucket to be carried.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Kirimatsu asked.

"My older brother. He use to make traps like that all the time. He taught me how to, as well. Now, while we're out here, we're going to have to find the nest of one of those chickens. We'll need, at least, five eggs. Keep an eye out for wild onions, and any leafy greens we can use." Ariadne told him.

"Will we have enough time to make a stock, though?" Kirimatsu added.

"To be honest, ideally, I would shimmer a broth for twenty-four hours in order to draw out as much flavor as possible, but there is a way to still get a nice stock with only a short amount of time. Leave that to me." Ariadne told him.

With that said, they went in search of chickens. When they found where the chickens were making their next, Kirimatsu drew the birds' attention while Ariadne grabbed the eggs she would need. After escaping the angry birds, they were able to find the onions and greens they would be using and retreated back to the kitchen, running into Souma, Megumi, and the Aldini brothers outside the door.

"Hey, Souma, Megumi!" Ariadne called.

"Hey, find all you need?" Souma asked.

"Sure did." Ariadne replied, both turning as the Aldini brothers approached them.

Souma's mouth twisted into a grin before he repeated the embarrassing "judge it impartially" line from earlier, the older brother, Takumi, going red all over again.

"Silence! Silence, I say!" Takumi snapped as they made their way inside, catching sight of the fish in Souma's bucket along the way. "Hmph! You're using fish too? Good grief, all of you. Cooking fish just because the theme is Japanese food, isn't your way of thinking too narrow?"

Several turned to look at Takumi as he spoke with contempt.

"What's with you? Getting all cocky, then, what are you..."

Souma trailed off when, out of his bucket, Takumi withdrew an already beheaded and plucked duck.

"Is that an aigamo?" Ariadne asked, Takumi nodded.

Ariadne had seen the ducks, but she hadn't expected someone to go after them, much less succeed in catching, killing, and plucking one.

"There weren't just Aigamo...there were rabbits and chicken too, you know? It's weird that no one even tried to search for them!" Takumi gloated.

"You shouldn't rush to such rash assumptions."

Everyone turned to a grinning Ariadne as she pulled a rabbit and a smaller chicken out of her bucket, dangling them from the piece of twain that tied their feet together. Chatter rose from the others as Ariadne's lips quirked up further into a grin.

"She did say we could use **any** ingredients we could find, right? I'll assume that applies to anything we can catch, gather, or...anything we **brought** with us. Good thing I never leave home without something to inspire ideas." Ariadne said. "You'd be surprised what we found when we started looking around. Kirimatsu, if you would go retrieve what I asked for from the back of the storehouse."

Ariadne's partner took off, Ariadne giving Takumi a wink before she returned to her station. She would leave Takumi and Souma to duke it out in whatever fashion they pleased. If she wanted to finish her dish in time, then she needed to get started. Ignoring everyone around her, Ariadne got to work on breaking down the rabbit and chicken.

She started with the chicken, working it down until she had the bones and neck sitting to one side. Taking the wild onion they had picked, she chopped it up and roasted it along with the bones and neck. While that was going, she found a pressure cooker, adding in water, the skins of her onions, and some parsley and the tops of some celery they had found.

Whispers spreading through the students, had Ariadne looking up. Kirimatsu was hurrying her way, carrying a small bag of flour he had found in the storehouse. Ariadne had count herself lucky that he had found it and would be even more grateful if it was enough to make what she needed.

"Good job!" Ariadne told him as he joined her. "Alright, grab the salt, an egg, water and canola oil and start on the noodles. I'll finish up this stock."

Kirimatsu nodded, getting to work on making noddles from scratch. The recipe she had given him for the noddle, would take thirty minutes. Using the pressure cooker, it would take a little over an hour to make the chicken stock. With an hour and a half left in their time, Ariadne was sure they would make it. With that in mind, she took the now roasted bones, onion, and chicken neck and put them in the pressure cooker, setting the timer. Before she started it, Ariadne went to the case she had brought in with her, opening it to pull out an unmarked bottle filled with a cherry red liquid. She added a touch of the liquid before returning the bottle to the case and starting the pressure cooker.

"What was that?" Kirimatsu asked.

"Don't worry about it." When he gave her an unsure look, Ariadne smiled back. "You trusted me before and we passed, no?"

"Yeah..."

"Then trust me now."

Heaving a sigh, Kirimatsu left it at that, turning back to his work.

Ariadne herself moved on to filleting the rabbit, removing sinew before hand and then soft boiling some eggs. Once the meat and eggs were cooking, Ariadne glanced over the seasonings and wild vegetables they had. Soy sauce, ginger, red chili powder, and sesame oil from the kitchen, and some garlic they had found growing wild. There was only one thing missing.

"Hey, Kirimatsu, are you almost done with the noodles?" she called.

"They just need to sit for twenty minutes. Why?"

"I want you to go back out and see if you can find any kind of cabbage. I would prefer pak choy, if you can find it." Ariadne told him.

"Got it."

Ariadne turned back to what she was doing, hoping he could find something. She completely ignored everything going on around her, tuning out the continuing competition between Souma and Takumi. When Kirimatsu returned, Ariadne over joyed he had managed to find a few stalks of pak choy. They weren't very big, but they were healthy, leafy, and perfectly enough for what they needed.

"Alright, we're going to need to braise those." Ariadne told him.

Kirimatsu got to work doing as she instructed. Aside from exchanging questions and instructions, the two didn't speak much, just worked. As the time ticked away, Ariadne started compiling the individual parts of their dish together. Just fifteen minutes short of their time running out, Ariadne plated their dish. She made it to Chef Inui before Souma did, presenting the dish with a smile.

"Please enjoy, Chef Inui." she said.

Silence fell around them as Chef Inui looked down at the bowl sitting before her.

"Oh! What is this?" Chef Inui asked.

"Japanese Rabbit and Noodles." Ariadne replied. "Please, take a bite."

Chef Inui, glad for a change from the constant fish everyone had been feeding her, picked up her chopsticks. Ariadne, hands clasped behind her back, waited with a smile on her face. Almost as soon as the flavor touched her tongue, Chef Inui let out a gasp of surprise, a low hum following as she savored the rich flavor that danced across her taste buds, a sweet kick following in it's wake.

"My goodness! It's positively delicious! And what is this sweetness I'm getting?" Chef Inui asked.

"That is a mix of the pak choy we used and a little something special I added. When you braise pak choy before adding it to a dish, it helps to release a nice sweetness from it." Ariadne replied.

"That the special add-in you spoke off?" Chef Inui asked.

"That's a secret, I'm afraid. An old family secret that I always carry with me." Ariadne replied.

"That's cheating!" one boy called from behind her.

"Actually, no, it's not. Chef Inui said we could use anything we could find within the fenced area. My little secret weapon technically classifies as something you can find within the fenced area. I merely took advantage of the vagueness of her words." Ariadne replied, giving the boy a smile.

Seeing her point, especially when Chef Inui didn't argue against it, the boy fell silent. Ariadne smiled and turned back to Chef Inui.

"I took as much advantage of your lack of details as I could. We found a partial bag of flour in the storehouse, which we used to make our noodles, took advantage of the wild onion, cabbage, garlic and greens we found, and even pilfered a chicken's nest after killing it for eggs."

"And what did you use to make this rich chicken stock?" Chef Inui asked.

"We took the bones and neck of the chicken we killed, roasted it with chopped onion, and then put that, the onion skins, and a few other ingredients in a pressure cooker I found among the cooking ware. All the flavor of a slow-simmered stock in a fraction of the time."

"Brilliant! The rabbit fillets are tender and juicy, the broth has a wonderful rich and subtly sweet flavor, the noodles are firm, but not too much so, and all of the vegetables compliment each other without being over powered by each other. You two pass!" Chef Inui told them.

"_Merci_!"

Kirimatsu gave a pump of his fist, grateful, once more, that he had been paired with Ariadne. Ariadne gave Chef Inui a polite bow, the woman swiping up her hand before Ariadne could move out of reach.

"You don't need to bow, my dear, and what slender fingers you have." Chef Inui said, examining Ariadne's fingers.

_She's going to make us go through this again?_

Heaving an inward sigh, Ariadne twisted her hand around until she was the one that gripped Chef Inui's hand. Shifting her eyes up to peer at Chef Inui's face through the ring of her lashes, Ariadne raised the hand to her mouth, bowing over it to place a chaste kiss on Chef Inui's knuckles. Raising her face, she gave the older woman a smile.

"All the better to cook deliciously sweet dishes for you, Chef Inui. Now, if you'll excuse me, others wish to present you with their dishes."

With that, Ariadne released her hand and turned on her heel, walking away. She passed a couple of boys whispering about her display of flirting. She met their gazes and gave them a wink, her lips curling up into a playful grin. She walked away, silently laughing to herself when the two blushed.

Sometimes it was just too much fun to be bisexual. She could flirt with either gender and it be remain a mystery on whether or not she truly mean it. Watching the reactions she got, only made it even more fun.

With the help of her partner, Ariadne went about cleaning up her station, watching from there as Souma and Megumi presented their dish of deep-fried fish and garnish.

Ariadne had to grip the counter to keep from falling to the floor in a fit of laughter when, after receiving a call from a very angry Shinomiya, Inui called an abrupt end to trying to decide who won between Takumi and Souma, and fled the room.

To make matters worse, Takumi made a big dramatic show of promising Souma that he would challenge him to a Food War someday before telling Souma, "Let us meet again, Yukihira Souma", only for the two of them to end up sitting beside each other on the bus. Ariadne was curled forward in her seat, forehead pressed to the seat in front of her as she tried to keep a rein on her laughter. As Souma teased Takumi, though, Ariadne wasn't the only one laughing, Isami joining her in the merriment.

"Stop laughing, the both of you!" Takumi demanded.

Ariadne leaned forward, between his and Souma's seat, meeting Takumi's eyes with a sultry grin on her face. Souma already knew where this was going and barely kept from laughing as Takumi's eyes zeroed in on Ariadne's face.

"Aw, don't be so sensitive. We're only teasing you a little. If you don't like it, I can think of _much_ better ways to tease you." Ariadne purred, a single finger ghosting over the sleeve covering Takumi's arm.

Ariadne pulled her hand back when Takumi lost it. Had it been one of the many animes Ariadne had watched with her little sister, smoke would have billowed up from his collar as his face went red all the way up to the roots of his hair.

Well...the latter happened, at least.

"My, my! What is wrong? I merely meant that we could tease you about another topic." Ariadne said, batting her eyelashes in an innocent way. "Why people always seem to misunderstand, I will never know. It wasn't like I meant it in an inappropriate way."

With that, Ariadne ducked back between the seats, Souma leaning to the side to look back at the silently grinning French girl as she crossed her legs. While he hadn't known her for long, Souma was sure about one thing.

She had meant for Takumi to take her words **exactly** as he had.

Living with Ariadne was going to be quite the ride.

END

Ariadne: Am I really that bad of a flirt?

Kyandi: Depends in what context you're asking the question.

Ariadne: Let me rephrase...Do I really flirt that much?

Kyandi: Sometimes. Sometimes, you only do it in response to someone else's flirting. Either way, it's funny.

Ariadne: At least I have better pick-up lines and flirting skills than your sister.

Kyandi: Yeah...she's a train wreck with flirting.

Ariadne: Then again, so is my brother.

Kyandi: Where do you think I got it from?

Ariadne: Oh! Nice.

Kyandi: Anyway, let's move on. I have another story to update. Everyone, please enjoy and review.

Ariadne: We will be back as soon as possible!

Kyandi: Bye-bye!

Ariadne:


	5. Making Friends and Enemies

Kyandi: Greetings, Kyandiacs!

Ariadne: We hope all of you are keeping yourselves safe.

Kyandi: And are taking precautions!

Ariadne: Make sure not to get sick!

Kyandi: I'd be sad to lose one of my precious readers.

Ariadne: We're taking precautions, too, so be careful.

Kyandi: That being said, this whole thing has everything around me on lock-down.

Ariadne: So guess who's stuck with no where to go.

Kyandi: This girl! I'm hoping to use that time to crank out a few more chapters a week, so everyone, enjoy and review.

Ariadne: Kyandi-sama does not own Shokugeki no Soma.

Chapter 5 Making Friends and Enemies

Yuuki and Ryoko were waiting for them when they arrived back at the hotel, Yuuki throwing herself at Ariadne and Megumi for a hug.

"Yuuki-chan! Ryoko-chan! What about the others?" Megumi asked.

"Ibusaki-kun is confirming that now." Ryoko replied, gesturing to Shun who stood a few yards from them, on the phone.

They all turned to look at Shun, waiting in silence as he finally got off the phone, snapping it shut. Shun turned towards them with a small smile on his face.

"All of the Polar Star members survived the first day." he announced, Megumi and Yuuki cheering.

"That is good news!" Ariadne added, smiling.

Souma, though, looked down at the ground where Zenji currently lay, looking about as white as a ghost.

"Marui is...you call this a survivor?" Souma asked.

"It seems he ran around the mountain the whole time." Shun replied.

"Ah, so they had an assignment similar to ours then." Souma retorted.

"Still...are you sure he is not dead?" Ariadne asked, crouching next to Zenji to poke his cheek.

There was no response from the boy other than a slight twitch of his foot. Ariadne's eyes fixed in on his twitching foot and poked his cheek once more. When his foot twitched in response again, her face lit up.

"Look, Souma! It's almost like pushing a button!" she exclaimed, poking Zenji's cheek again.

Souma chuckled as he watch Ariadne enjoy her new toy. In the background, the girls agreed that, after their assignment, they were all bone tired. Yuuki went on, gushing about how she was now going to enjoy all the luxuries the hotel had to offer.

As they moved inside, they found out, quick, that that was not how their evening was going to go.

Inside, they found a bunch of muscle bound men waiting with another one of their lecturers.

"Those who can finish dinner for them will have free time. They are the people of the bodybuilding club of the Upper Arm University that are having a training camp at a nearby facility. The people from the American football club and the wrestling club will come later. Each of you has to make fifty of these meals." their lecturer told them.

They were all directed to the kitchens, each given their own station and told to make fifty beef steak meals. Only once they had finished making the meals to the chefs' satisfaction, could they then make their own meals and have free time.

Yuuki, of course, was shattered by that news, especially when it was also revealed that they would responsible for all of their breakfasts and dinners while there.

Ariadne could almost hear Yuuki's heart break.

To add to the pressure, they were told that those who couldn't clear the fifty meals in an hour, would be expelled.

Ariadne heaved a sigh as those around her started to panic. While she could understand why they were so panicked, losing their cool like that, wouldn't help them. All it would do was insure that they messed up or hurt themselves. If they would merely calm down and focus on the task rather than what would happen if they failed, than it would serve them better.

Ariadne, unlike those around her, kept her cool and got to work. She pranced around the kitchen, humming lowly to herself while the others yelled and rushed around. In the end, she ended up clearing her fifty plates about the same time as Souma. She gave a wave to the others, wishing them luck, as she left the kitchen.

"Let's see..."

Ariadne checked her phone for the time. It wasn't yet late enough for her to call Taliyah and Dante, so Ariadne decided to take advantage of the free time to get herself a nice bath. She rushed back to her room, interested to see what these public baths were like. When she reached the baths, she found none other than Erina, humming to herself as she soaked in the steamy water.

"Oh, _ma faute_! I did not know anyone else was here." Ariadne apologized when Erina looked up. She gave Erina a smile, hugging her towel tighter around herself. "Sorry, I hope you don't mind me joining you."

Erina stared at Ariadne for a moment, the other girl giving her a bright smile. When she merely looked away, agreeing, Ariadne moved to the other side of the bath, easing her way in and setting her towel aside. Erina glanced over at her as she shifted, trying to get comfortable. When Ariadne caught her looking, she gave her a sheepish smile.

"This is the first time I've ever used a public bath. I'm not use to sharing with anyone other than my little sister." Ariadne admitted. "You're Nakiri Erina, right? It's nice to meet you."

"And you are?" Erina asked.

"Sinclair Ariadne. I was one of the two transfer students this year, though my enrollment was probably over shadowed by Souma's." Ariadne replied, Erina making a face at Souma's name. "I'm glad to see that I'm not the only girl done with the fifty plates. Would have been lonely and boring else wise."

Ariadne reached up, sweeping a loose strand of aqua blue hair behind one hair that was hanging in her face. Erina just stared at her. She couldn't understand why this girl was being so friendly and familiar if she knew who she was. Was she just the chatty type?

Ariadne sighing and sinking a little more into the water, drew Erina from her thoughts. She watched as Ariadne sank up to her chin in the water, relaxing back against the edge of the bath.

"After a day of having to walk all over a mountain side for ingredients, this bath sure does feel great. I'm sure you had no problem with your assignments today." Ariadne said.

"Of course not. What do you take me for?" Erina demanded.

"Cute."

Erina stumbled over her next words, turning wide eyes on Ariadne, who was grinning back at her. It only made Ariadne want to laugh as Erina took a moment to just blink at her, trying to process the meaning behind Ariadne's one word sentence. Finally she spoke.

"Are...are you...?"

"You know, it's probably best if you don't ask that question." Ariadne teased. "People tend to get a little embarrassed or up-tight when they find out that I'm pretty...fluid in my taste. But you don't have to worry about that. I was merely teasing. I do that to everyone."

Erina relaxed a bit when Ariadne assured her that she had merely been teasing her. She wasn't sure how she would have handle the knowledge of knowing that a **girl** liked her.

"Anyway, I'm glad to see that the rumors about you don't completely hold up."

"What are you talking about?" Erina asked, looking up at Ariadne.

"All the rumors I've heard about you have made you out to be exceedingly vapid, shallow, and self-centered. They make you seem like someone that can't hold a normal conversation without insulting the person you're talking to and looking down on them. I'm glad to see that's not completely the case. I mean, I can understand a bit of pride. After all, you're extremely talented and stand at the head of the culinary world at Totsuki. I glad it's not a twenty-four/seven thing. If it was, I wouldn't want to be friend with you. I don't like the concept of befriending someone for their status or reputation. It's insulting to both parties. Not that I have the patience to put up with someone for those reasons if I really don't like them." Ariadne explained, giving Erina a smile. "I would like to be friends with you, though, if you would let me."

Erina was shocked, to say the least. She had never met someone as forward and blunt honest as this. Nor had she ever met someone who was more interested in her as a person than for her reputation. That is, aside from Hisako.

"You want to be my friend?" Erina asked.

"Why not? I didn't just come to this school for the culinary experience. I came here to make friends, improve my cooking, and to enjoy my high school life. Are you against being my friend?"

The almost hurt and worried look that took over Ariadne's expression, had Erina stiffening. It was almost like having Hisako give her the same look. She instantly wanted to comfort Ariadne, despite the fact that she had only just met her. Which was strange and insane.

"No, I'm not against it!" Erina rushed to say.

Ariadne's face lit up and, before Erina knew it, the other girl surged across the bath to take hold of one of her hands in her two. Apparently Ariadne had completely forgotten the fact that both she and Erina were completely naked.

"Really?! You'll be my friend? That's great! I insist you call me Ari, then." Ariadne insisted, smiling brightly.

"A-alright."

Erina was just trying her best not to look down as Ariadne, in her joy, gave a jump, exposing herself. For a girl who hadn't grown up sharing baths, Ariadne certainly seemed to be very comfortable in her own skin. When Erina refused to look at her, Ariadne finally took stock of the situation and looked down, realizing that she was exposing herself.

"Oh! Sorry about that." Ariadne said, dropping back into the water. "Sometimes I just get too excited."

Ariadne gave Erina a smile. While she was strange, Erina couldn't say she disliked it. After all, only time would show Erina if she would or wouldn't get along with Ariadne. The two continued to chat, and when Erina decided she was ready to get out, Ariadne joined her. Erina had to show Ariadne how to tie her yukata, the girl giving her the biggest, cheeriest smile in return that Erina had ever seen.

As they left the baths, Erina glanced at the cheerful girl at her side. She wanted to ask Ariadne if she wanted to play cards with her and Hisako, but it was difficult for her to find the words to ask. Even asking Hisako was difficult at times, and they had been friends for years. Just as she opened her mouth to try to ask, though, Ariadne turned to her.

"Erina, would you like to play cards with me? The rest of my friends hadn't been anywhere near done when I left the kitchens." Ariadne said.

"Uh...I suppose I could do you the honor of accompanying you." Erina replied, flustered.

Ariadne barely kept from chuckling. While Erina was trying to come off as if she didn't care and was above it, Ariadne had a strong feeling that wasn't the case. It was kind of cute, in a way, almost endearing.

Well...it was if others could see past the facade.

"Great! I'll just get my deck from my room." Ariadne told her.

They were just nearing a corner at an intersection of the hallway, when someone came flying around the corner, bouncing off Erina and knocking the girl to the ground.

"Erina!"

Ariadne hurriedly crouched beside Erina, checking on her. When she was sure that Erina was fine, she turned her eyes up, looking to see who had bumped into her and let out an "Oh! Hey, Souma.", making Erina look up too.

"Yukihira Souma...!" Erina snapped, obviously not happy.

Ariadne had already known there was something bad between then, but it was kind of hard to guess what it was. Even Souma seemed a little perplexed by Erina's reaction to him.

"Sorry...! Are you okay, Nakiri!? Do you have a twisted ankle or something?" Souma asked, reaching out to help Erina up.

"D-don't touch me! I can stand by myself...Ari, help me." Erina said, holding an arm out to Ariadne.

Ariadne had to fight back her smile as she took Erina's arm and helped her to her feet. It was amusing that Erina could, in one breath, claim she could get up on her own, and then, in the next breath, ask Ariadne to help her up. Ariadne helped her to her feet, and stood there as Souma spoke to Erina, the girl snapping back at him.

"This is a worthless event," Erina said, speaking of the training camp. "They call it a hellish training camp, but it's nothing but tedious for me. Ah! Well, however...I wonder on what day you will drop out. Watching that might be mildly entertaining."

Erina had obviously been aiming to belittle Souma, but the boy didn't take it that way. He merely grinned at Erina.

"Don't make me laugh, you were even walking so cheerfully." Souma retorted.

Erina raised a fist, trying to suppress her annoyance with Souma when there was a sudden yell of her name. Turning, they found Hisako running their way.

"Erina-sama! Sorry for the tardiness! It took more time than expected...Yu-Yukihira Souma!" Ariadne clamped a hand over her mouth to ward off a laugh when Hisako came to a halt and pointed a finger at Souma. "You bastard, what are you doing there?!"

"Well...I kinda push Nakiri down." Souma replied.

Ariadne could have slapped herself in the face when Souma phrased it that way. As it was, she hung her head, giving it a shake as Hisako took it wrong.

"Don't say it in a way that will cause misunderstandings! Just go somewhere else quickly!" Erina snapped at Souma.

Holding his hands up before him, Souma carried on about this way, Ariadne giving him a wink as he passed back. Once he was gone, Hisako turned her attention on Ariadne.

"And you? Who are you?" Hisako asked.

"I'm Sinclair Ariadne. I ran into Erina in the baths. You must be Arato Hisako. It's a pleasure to meet you!" Ariadne said, taking hold of one of Hisako's hands in both of hers. "Let's be friends, okay? Erina already agreed."

Hisako looked from Ariadne's smiling face to Erina, who was too busy trying to straighten her yukata. When Erina didn't protest that she had agreed to such a thing, Hisako took it as truth and turned her eyes back to Ariadne. The girl seemed genuine in her offer to be friends, so Hisako agreed and was taken off guard when Ariadne jumped at her, hugging her around the neck with a cheer.

"I can't wait to tell Taliyah that I made two new friends!" Ariadne said happily.

"Taliyah?" Hisako asked.

"My little sister. She was worried that I would come here and be so focused on school that I wouldn't make any friends." Ariadne replied.

Ariadne's smile put a smile on Hisako's face too. When Ariadne finally let go of her neck, she turned to Erina.

"Are you really fine?" she asked.

"No problem, you should finish your bath." Erina replied.

"Yes...ah, Erina-sama, good news. I just asked in the reception and it seems they can lend us card decks and uno!" Hisako said, smiling.

"I won't play that." Erina retorted, puffing out one cheek.

"E...eh? But Erina-sama, just before, you..." Hisako trailed off.

"I won't do something so happy-go-lucky!" Erina said tartly.

"But you promised to play with me, too."

Hearing the sadness and disappointment that colored Ariadne's tone, Erina turned to her and instantly froze when she found Ariadne's eyes pooling with tears. When both Erina and Hisako rushed to comfort her, both agreeing to play cards with her, Ariadne quickly switched to a bright smile.

While they were happy that she wasn't about to cry, Erina and Hisako had to wonder if maybe, Ariadne might give them whiplash.

-0-0-0-0-

Ariadne stayed with Erina and Hisako, playing cards, until Yuuki and Ryoko texted her, telling her that all of the others were gathering in Zenji's room. Ariadne said good night to Erina and Hisako, agreeing to play cards with them again the next night, and headed over to Zenji's room. When she got there, they instantly jumped into a game, Zenji, Yuuki, Daigo, and Shoji all passing out within a few minutes of starting.

"It seems the fatigue hit them at one moment." Ryoko remarked.

"Well, let's leave them like that until it's lights off time." Shun remarked.

"All that energy to play cards only to pass out cold like that...they certainly are an amusing lot." Ariadne remarked, chuckling to herself.

Ryoko and the others agreed. To watch how quickly their energy could drain away, was funny. Smiling, Ryoko turned to Megumi.

"Megumi, you aren't sleepy yet? That's unusual. You usually get sleepy early." Ryoko remarked.

"Yeah...it's weird, I'm tired but I can't fall asleep." Megumi replied.

"I don't know. I imagine, if I laid down, that I could fall asleep without issue." Ariadne said, shrugging her shoulders. "That's how tired I feel."

"Well, we steeled ourselves all day." Souma pointed out.

"You're right...but it's probably not just that." Megumi agreed.

"What do you mean?" Ariadne asked.

"I always get really nervous in classes, and I always get in a hurry thinking what will happen if I fail, but today...I could do well when helping Souma-kun, so I got the feeling...I got a little confidence. And because of that...I'm really excited." Megumi explained. When all the others did was stare at her, she waved her hands in front of her. "Ermm...you see, it was all thanks to Souma-kun who gave the instructions...I'm not all that great."

"That's not true." Souma instantly retorted. "If you didn't get the ingredients I would have never been able to make that dish. And you also cooked perfectly."

"That's right, Megumi, you can do it if you try." Ryoko agreed.

"You should be more confident in yourself. That's the first step to standing on your own, after all." Ariadne added.

Megumi turned to Ariadne, who gave her a big smile. Megumi knew the others were right, that she needed to have more confidence in herself in order to progress on as a chef. She wanted to spend more time with Ariadne and the others, and if she wanted to do that, she had to continue to improve.

Besides...tomorrow would bring more challenges.

If only she had known what challenge that would be.

-0-0-0-0-

The next morning, at nine, Ariadne found herself, along with Souma and Megumi, standing before their next lecturer, Shinomiya Koujiro.

"Good morning, I'm Shinomiya, an alumnus from the 79th generation. On this assignment, you'll have to cook a dish that I designate. Have you passed the recettes?" Shinomiya called out.

While the rest of those around her freaked out, Ariadne took the paper passed out and looked over the recipe. The recipe before her was for a Nine Vegetable Terrine. It was a visible beautiful dish, but one that took a lot to make. Each of the different vegetables in the dish, had to be heated and prepared in a different way. It would take quite a bit of work.

Something that Ariadne was no stranger to.

"I chose a rather simple of my recettes. Did you wish for a more difficult one?" Shinomiya asked, seeing the looks on some of the students' faces. "And you won't form teams for this assignment."

Ariadne heard Kirimatsu curse low under his breath from behind her. She glanced back at him to find him sweating buckets. She knew he had been relying on her since they had first been paired, but hadn't been aware that it had been to the extent that he cursed his misfortune for not being paired with her. Facing forward, Ariadne caught sight of the concerned look on Megumi's face. She hoped the other girl would be alright.

"You should finish your dish alone. Exchanging information or giving advice is forbidden while cooking. You can select and use any of the ingredients gathered in the back of the kitchen. I'll give you one piece of advice: it would be wise to think that all those around you are your enemies." Shinomiya told them. "The time limit is three hours. Well then, start."

Ariadne was suddenly grateful that she had been one of those nearest to the back. Taking one last glance at the list of ingredients she would need, she rushed to the trays of food set out and began to collect what she needed, slipping between people that were elbowing each other in the rush to get the first pick. Once she had all that she needed, she moved to her cooking station and got to cooking, tuning out the mass of nervousness around her.

Some students stopped and shot Ariadne weird looks, like they thought she was crazy, when she started humming to herself as she worked, a smile on her face. While, yes, her continued enrollment counted on her finishing the dish to Shinomiya's satisfaction, Ariadne enjoyed cooking far too much to not hum and smile while she worked.

At least she wasn't full out singing and dancing like she did in her kitchen back home.

Souma and Ariadne finished at the same time, both presenting their dishes to Shinomiya. Both received a pass and stepped aside. Souma turned to look at Megumi while Ariadne watched as Kirimatsu approached with his dish...only to be sent packing.

Ariadne felt bad for him, especially since, in his nervousness and rush, he had messed up the recipe. Now she would be without her partner. Ariadne was forced to redirect her attention, though, when Megumi stepped up with her dish. Shinomiya took a bite, giving his head a shake.

"Tadokoro Megumi, you're fired." Ariadne could hear Megumi's heart break. "Now with this, everyone's submitted their dishes, right? All of those who failed must pack and go to the hotel's lobby."

"U-ummm...wh-why is my dish...no good?" Megumi asked, barely speaking up.

"When you boiled the cauliflower that had started going bad, you used wine vinegar, right? You used the vinegar, since it has a bleaching action, to preserve the beautiful color. And by using the vinegar as a seasoning too, you made the cauliflower's sweetness better. The vegetables' sweetness and the vinegar's mild sourness make an exquisite combination of flavors." Shinomiya explained.

"Th-then, why?" Megumi asked.

Shinomiya's next comment was so simple and straight-forward, Ariadne kind of wanted to smack him with his own recette.

"Who said you could change the recipe?" Shinomiya replied. "This dish is made so that you can enjoy the harmony created by the sweetness of every vegetable. Was there any part of the recette that said "Make the best use of sourness"? What you made is already a totally different dish. If you submit a dish that's not in accordance to the assignment, you're naturally disqualified, do you understand now?"

"I can't agree with that!"

"Neither can I, to be frank."

Shinomiya, who had just started to walk away, stopped and turned to look at the two who had spoken. His eyes landed on Souma and Ariadne, both of which looked completely serious about the situation.

"That was inevitable!" Souma added.

"After all...you had included ingredients whose freshness had begun to decline. And I am willing to wager that you did so purposely." Ariadne added.

"To begin with, we're being treated as senpais' employees, right? Then, the responsibility of the management of the ingredients should lie on you, Shinomiya-senpai, since you're the boss. Isn't that a fault as a "Chef"?" Souma demanded.

Ariadne's head tilted to the side as Shinomiya slammed a hand down on the counter top with surprising force.

"You brats," Ariadne turned to Souma, pointing to herself as if silently asking, "Is he talking about me?". "Who do you think you're talking to? Huh?"

Ariadne had the strong urge to reply with something sarcastic like, "Right now? A severely pissed off Japanese man". She wisely kept her mouth shut though.

"I'll tell you since it seems you didn't understand. The cauliflowers in a bad state were mixed in there on purpose, in order to narrow the passing students down. Cauliflowers are a triple threat. They oxidize easily, go bad easily, and are difficult to cook. They're one of the vegetables you have to be most careful with. I disqualified the fools who lost their composure and couldn't judge well without omission. The same goes for the dunces who got a late start and couldn't secure a good one." Shinomiya told them.

"That just makes our point all the more valid." Ariadne insisted, her hands going to her hips.

"Tadokoro came up with an original idea to cover up for the lateness-"

"I'm the chef." Shinomiya snapped, cutting off Souma. "There's no way underlings are allowed to revise the recette I made."

Both Souma and Ariadne frowned, their eyes narrowing in twin looks of displeasure. Shinomiya approached the two, adjusting the glasses on his face.

"Listen, underlings...if you keep defying me...should I fire you two too on my authority as the chef?"

Ariadne was sorely tempted to flick him across the nose. The only thing that stopped her, was Megumi latching on to both hers and Souma's arms.

"Souma-kun, Ari...it's okay! It's fine already." Megumi insisted. "You two will get expelled too...right? So, stop it already."

"Huh!? This isn't the time to say that!" Souma replied.

The sad, sheepish smile that Megumi gave them, nearly broke Ariadne's heart. She had never really been a violent person. In fact, she had only ever come close to a physical fight once and that had been because a bully had been picking on Taliyah at school.

Ariadne had hung him from the top of the monkey bars and had only let him go after he had apologized and Dante had insisted it was the lady-like thing to do.

That being said...Ariadne really wanted to punch this man.

Souma, though, had a better idea.

"Shinomiya-senpai! Excuse me!" Souma called out, stopping Shinomiya once more. "One last thing."

"What, Monsieur Yukihira? You have any other complaints?" Shinomiya asked, a smirk on his face.

"No...more than a complaint it's a question." Souma began. "Does that Totsuki rule apply to alumni too?"

Ariadne had a strong feeling she knew where this was going, and it put a grin on her face that Shinomiya didn't like.

"What are you talking about?" Shinomiya demanded.

"It's quite simple, really." Ariadne said, spreading her hands in a what-can-you-do manner, her grin growing into a smirk. "He's challenging you to a Food War. If he can defeat you, you have to take back the decision to expel Megumi."

A smirk, much like Ariadne's, pulled at Shinomiya's lips. He was obviously amused by the confidence that Souma and Ariadne were showing. Though, Ariadne wasn't the one challenging him.

"Food War...ah...such a nostalgic sound." Shinomiya remarked. "A Food War against someone who isn't enrolled...it's not like there's no precedents, but for a Food War, you need the approval of both parties...right? Sorry, but I don't feel like accepting your challenge. No matter how you struggle, Tadokoro's expulsion is already set in stone."

"Hey, not so fast." Ariadne leaned to the side, peering around Shinomiya as another voice spoke. Standing there, in the doorway, was Doujima and Inui. "It seems something interesting is happening here."

With the appearance of the two, those involves-Souma, Megumi, Shinomiya, and Ariadne-were all moved to Doujima's office, where Inui tried the dish that Megumi had prepared.

"Tadokoro Megumi-san's dish...! Isn't it delicious!? Then, it should be fine to let her pass. Shinomiya-senpai, you bonehead! Big-headed! Narcissist!" Inui jeered, buzzing around Shinomiya somewhat like a fly would.

Having grown annoyed with her and her constantly chattering, Shinomiya, without any warning, seized her by the head. Ariadne watched as he effortlessly lifted her in the air.

"Be quiet, Hinako." he ordered.

"Sorry!"

Shinomiya dropped her, Hinako latching onto her head. Ariadne leaned forward, leaning in to check on her.

"Doujima-san, this assignment was suppose to be entrusted to me." Shinomiya said in the background.

"Of course, Shinomiya. I'm not dissatisfied with the test contents and criteria you established. However, at least she tried to cope with the situation, right? Don't you think her guts are worth considering?" Doujima asked, gesturing to Megumi.

"I don't. I don't think so at all." Shinomiya remarked.

"I think they are!" Inui butted in.

"Hm, with this we have a tie...it's unavoidable." Doujima mused, only further annoying Shinomiya. "It can't be helped, an unofficial Food War. I'll take charge of it! So to call it, a casual match. Since we can't throw the training camp's program out of order, I'll have you both battle Shinomiya after you deal with all of today's assignments."

"Hey...wait, Doujima-san! Why do I have to keep up with this farce-"

Shinomiya cut off, Ariadne letting out a low whistle, when Doujima turned a stern, I'll-take-no-arguments look on him.

"Accept it, Shinomiya." Doujima ordered.

"Okay. I'll go along with Monsieur Doujima's whim. Okay, Yukihira, Sinclair!"

"Uh, no." All eyes turned to Ariadne as she cut off Shinomiya, a smile on her face. "I think you've misunderstood. While I'm all for speaking up when I think something's wrong, I have no interest, what-so-ever, in actually taking part in a Food War. I don't see the point in needless displays of strength. It's too much like boosting, in my opinion. Souma made this challenge, not me."

"Yeah? Well too bad." Shinomiya told her, making Ariadne raise an eyebrow at him in questioning. "Yukihira, if you win I'll take back Tadokoro's expulsion., but if you lose, I'll get all three of you fired."

Shinomiya looked back at Ariadne and Souma. Souma had a serious look on his face. Ariadne on the other hand...

"Eh...sounds fine with me."

Shinomiya's confident grin fell in the face of Ariadne's indifference, the girl easily shrugging her shoulders as if she had not a care in the world. The fact that she had not reacted in the way he had wanted her to, only further annoyed him, which put a grin on Ariadne's face. Doujima butted in before the French girl could further irritate Shinomiya.

"With that said, Yukihira, Tadokoro and Sinclair, after you finish your afternoon assignments come to the hotel's annex. Show me your worth." Doujima told them.

Ariadne had a feeling that the night was going to prove to be rather entertaining.

END

Kyandi: I love having you mess with people.

Ariadne: Well, it's fun for me too.

Kyandi: And we do everything for fun, right!

Ariadne: That's about right.

Kyandi: Then there's your weird, pushy way of making friends.

Ariadne: I just know what I want.

Kyandi: And how to get it.

Ariadne: _Oui_!

Kyandi: Well, that is what makes you, you. Anyway, everyone enjoy and review.

Ariadne: We will return as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


	6. Right to Survive

Kyandi: Hey all!

Ariadne: We're sorry the update is coming so late in the day.

Kyandi: I ended up making this chapter a little longer than the others, so that took a little more time.

Ariadne: She just loves to make me tease either the most un-teasable of people or the people who react too well to it.

Kyandi: It's fun. Watch, they'll agree.

Ariadne: Maybe.

Kyandi: Anyway, I hope you're all keeping yourselves safe and healthy.

Ariadne: Don't forget to take care of yourselves!

Kyandi: And with that, everyone, enjoy and review. Please review! I need feedback so I know it you guys like it.

Ariadne: Kyandi-sama does not own Shokugeki no Soma.

Chapter 6 Right to Survive

That night, after the rest of their assignments were done and over, Ariadne joined Souma and Megumi and heading for the kitchen where they would be meeting up with Doujima and Shinomiya. They found the two waiting for them.

"Totsuki Villa's annex wasn't suppose to be used for this training camp. In the kitchen on it's first basement, in here, no one will disturb us." Doujima told as four more of their instructors joined them, Inui left in a corner, tied to a chair.

"Wh-why are there so many alumni here?" Megumi asked, her nerves starting to take over.

"I had them come as judges. All since Inui seemed like she wouldn't be impartial." Doujima replied.

"Well, that explains the "Just a Spectator" sign hung around her neck." Ariadne remarked, chuckling lowly to herself.

Ariadne had the strong urge to tease Inui while she was unable to do anything back. Acting on impulse, something Souma and Megumi were coming to expect from the girl, Ariadne walked over to Inui, bending to to poke at one of the cheeks Inui had puffed out in annoyance. A grin spread across Ariadne's face as Inui pouted.

Gotoda chuckled as he watched Ariadne playfully poke at the older woman.

"An unofficial Food War...moreover, in the middle of the training camp, an alumnus vs. a student. I wonder what would happen if Chapelle-sensei gets to know of this." Gotoda remarked.

"He'll get angry...a lot." Sekimori replied.

"If we're found out, I'll run...and make it Shinomiya's fault." Mizuhara added.

"I heard you Mizuhara!" Shinomiya snapped.

The bulging vein in the man's forehead only grew when he heard Ariadne lightly snickering in the background. When he turned a glare on her, she merely gave him a grin, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

"Starting now," Doujima said, butting in before Shinomiya could really lose his temper with Ariadne. "We'll hold a 2-vs-1 casual match!"

"2-vs-1? But there are three students here." Gotoda remarked, his eyes shifting from Souma to Megumi, and finally landing on Ariadne as the girl straightened up.

"I'm merely here to spectate." Ariadne replied.

"Spectate?" Sekimori repeated.

"She's a spectator with her enrollment at Totsuki in the hands of her classmates." Shinomiya sneered, as if he thought that would get to Ariadne.

His response, though, had him clicking his tongue in annoyance.

"Eh."

That was the single, lone sound that left Ariadne as she gave a what-can-you-do kind of shrug of her shoulders. It was as if the girl truly didn't care. Shinomiya was starting to think that was the case.

"Don't you care that you're going to get expelled, putting your trust in the hands of others?" he snapped.

"Not at all." Ariadne gave him a wide grin, waving a hand before her. "You really should learn to relax and not to sweat things. It takes all the fun out of life when you're so uptight. You know, it's a real shame. You're a solid nine out of ten on the scale of looks, but your personality is a solely lacking three."

With that last comment, Shinomiya didn't know whether to be flattered that she thought he was good looking, or insulted that she thought he had a crap personality. Being a prideful man, the latter won out.

"What was that?!" he snapped.

"Sorry, but I don't believe I stuttered. I thought it was pretty clear. Is my Japanese that bad?"

At the earnest smile that curled Ariadne's lips, Shinomiya had to use every last shred of self-control not to scream his frustration with the girl. It was like she honestly didn't notice that she had just insulted him, or the seriousness of the situation she was in. Doujima stepped in before Ariadne could drive Shinomiya's blood pressure up any higher than it already was.

"These vegetables are left-overs from today's assignment." Doujima said, drawing their attention back to him. "The theme will be a dish that uses them. Furthermore...I'll put one more condition, Tadokoro Megumi, you must be the lead cook."

If it wasn't for the sheer panic Ariadne could see on Megumi's face, she might have laughed at the stunned look on Souma's.

"I have to be the lead cook?" Megumi repeated.

"Yes, you must choose the recipe alone. Yukihira, you must only be of support to her." Doujima told the two.

"Doujima-senpai! It was me, who made the challenge for the Food War, so, why?" Souma demanded.

"I'm mediating a challenge that wouldn't have happened otherwise, I'll have you accept the conditions I put. Yukihira...let's say you win with your cooking skills and make Tadokoro survive, what good will it do? That wouldn't change the fact that she's a hanger-on. She would just be disqualified eventually on another assignment, or would she have Yukihira...or someone else," Here Doujima's eyes turned to give Ariadne a pointed look. The girl merely blinked back innocently. "Save her again? Whether Tadokoro should stay or not in Totsuki, is something she has to show herself. Starting tonight, on this moment...in this kitchen, Tadokoro-kun...you're a chef."

Ariadne knew he had a point. Totsuki was a hard school to survive in. If Megumi couldn't do it on her own, than she would never make it. She had to settle this on her own terms.

"Doujima-san, I've already decided the dish I will cook, may I begin preparing it?" Shinomiya butted in, having already gathered what he needed.

"Sure, go ahead." Doujima replied.

Shinomiya turned away from the selection of vegetables, a pan balanced between one arm and his hip. He came to a stop facing Souma and Ariadne, a smirk on his face.

"Hmph...I feel for you, Yukihira, Sinclair!" he told them.

"Why is that?" Souma asked.

"You're feeling desperate, right?" Shinomiya asked.

"Not really."

Shinomiya ignored Ariadne's input. He was becoming more and more convinced that the girl had a screw loose somewhere in her head. That, or her obvious hair dye had seeped into her brain.

"Because your expulsions depend on the skills of that dunce." Shinomiya continued.

"Did you hear that hateful way of speaking!?"

Shinomiya turned when Inui suddenly spoke, the woman free of her binds.

"That's why you don't last long with women, Shinomiya-san." Gotoda added.

"I agree with Sinclair. Shinomiya, I think you really have a bad personality." Mizuhara added.

Shinomiya could hear the snorted laugh that Ariadne tried so hard to hold back.

"Silence, outsiders! Wait...Hinako, when did you get rid of the ropes?!" Shinomiya demanded.

"Whoops." Shinomiya whipped around to face Ariadne, the girl idly swinging a rope from between two fingers, a grin curling her lips as she pressed her free hand to her cheek. "I really do apologize. I just have the **stickiest** of fingers."

"Why you-"

"A little advice, Shinomiya-senpai," Ariadne cut Shinomiya off, giving him the sweetest smile she possessed. A smile that didn't match the sharpness in her icy eyes. "You really don't want to start a pissing match. I'm a girl...I'll win."

Puffing up like he wanted to start a verbal fight, Shinomiya quelled the desire. He knew he would beat whatever Megumi could put out and then he would be rid of Ariadne as well as Souma and Megumi. Turning on his heel, he got to work starting his preparations, only stopping long enough to yell at Inui to shut up when she started cheering for Megumi.

Megumi, already freaking out since she had to be lead cook and choose the recipe, only started panicking even more as she stood before the selection of ingredients. Her hands started to tremble despite her best efforts to tell herself to calm down. Souma saw this, turning to her.

"Just for your information, you can't revise her recipe." Doujima warned Souma. "Because you're only a sous-chef. You thought that Tadokoro is worth surviving here, right? If you say you can't believe on her cooking skills, then step down from this challenge."

"There's no way I can step down, I'm a chef, you know? Like I'll run away from the kitchen." Souma told him.

"I see. Sinclair?"

Doujima turned to Ariadne, who merely gave him a smile before she lowered herself into a chair, settling in as she crossed her legs.

"I'm not someone willing to back down from a challenge that is obviously good for someone, and I won't apologize for coming to the defense of a friend. If you're looking for someone like that, than you can look somewhere else. _Que sera sera_." Ariadne replied, spreading her hands in a what-can-you-do manner. "Besides...I've tasted Megumi's food. I'm not worried."

Ariadne turned her eyes to Souma, giving him a small nod. Grinning, Souma nodded back before turning to Megumi. In her panic, Megumi had gone nearly deaf, only barely hearing Souma when he ordered her to put her hand together and hold them out in front of her. Megumi did as told and almost as soon as her hands were in the position that he wanted them in...Souma slapped them between his as hard as he could.

The sting, sharp like a stabbing knife, snapped Megumi out of her panic. Though it had scared her and had, obviously hurt, Megumi released that her hands were no long trembling. It wasn't a way Ariadne would have chosen to ease her tension, but she couldn't deny that it had worked. With a little pep talk, Souma gave Megumi the space she needed to decide on a dish to make. While she did that, he sat to the side and waited.

When Megumi finally decided, Ariadne could see the confidence that Souma gave her. With Souma as her support, the two got to work. They quickly gathered what they would need for the dish and started dividing up the tasks. Shinomiya, waiting for his own dish to cook, watched the two, Inui approaching him.

"Shinomiya-senpai!"

"What is it, Hinako?" Shinomiya asked.

"Putting "restaurant" and "Tadokoro" together, sounds pretty nice, doesn't it!" Inui told him.

If there was a joke there, or something, then it completely went over Ariadne's head. Shinomiya, though, got it and only grew annoyed with Inui.

"Tie her again and put her somewhere far away from here." Shinomiya ordered before turning to look at Ariadne. "And do not free her this time!"

"No promises. I like to tease people and you make it all too easy." Ariadne replied honestly, grinning at his put out expression.

Turning her attention away from him, Ariadne focused in on Megumi. The girl was calm now, her mind focused on her task and her hands steady. Ariadne watched as Megumi cut tomatoes in half, sprinkling them with something before putting them in the oven. By the time she finished that, Souma had the meat ready for her.

Once again, Ariadne was taken in by just how well Megumi and Souma worked together. It was almost as if Souma knew exactly when and what Megumi would need next. It just went to show that Souma really did have experience in working in a kitchen, he moved so fast and without hesitation. He even managed to impress the chefs watching him. Ariadne could understand their fascination and awe.

Shinomiya, on the other hand, did not seem impressed.

When it finally came time to judge, it was Shinomiya that stepped up with his dish, first.

Ariadne leaned forward in her seat to see what it was that he had sat in front of the other chefs. She recognized the dish almost instantly.

"Chou Farci." Ariadne said. "It's native to the Auvergne Region of France. You stuff cabbage leaves with minced meat or vegetables, wrap it and steam it."

"Yes. This...is somehow unexpected." Gotoda said, looking down at the dish.

"This is a standard dish cooked frequently in French families." Sekimori added.

"This was...a bit of a let-down." Inui said bluntly. "For the Shinomiya-senpai who always made showy dishes to make this."

Inui's reward for her opinion, was a karate chop to the top of the head. Ariadne was too distracted by the smell that burst forth when Gotoda cut into his food. The smell of potherbs like lettuce, collard, chard, and endives reached her nose. She could tell, just from the smell, that the taste would be good too. It made her stomach growl. Apparently, the other chefs agreed with that judgment. They all five gave the dish high praise.

"Hey, how was the flavor, Mizuhara?" Shinomiya demanded.

"If it could erase my memories regarding Shinomiya it would've been perfect." Mizuhara replied.

"Hmm...that's a pity." Shinomiya mocked.

"However that was unexpected, Shinomiya. I was sure that we'd get to eat one of "Shino's" specialties." Doujima remarked.

Shinomiya took a moment to wipe clean his glasses, replacing them back on his face before he answered. While he had a confident grin on his on his face, Ariadne had looked in on something that, by the looks of it, Doujima had also noticed.

"Your jokes aren't funny, Doujima-san. My opponents are just students. Did you think I'd be so merciless?" Shinomiya asked.

If Ariadne was to answer that question...she'd go with a resounding yes.

The man was so arrogant that all it took was Ariadne looking at his smug smile to make her want to smack the mother-loving god out of him.

But she was a good, little French girl, and good girls didn't smack people.

For now.

"Here. please enjoy the meal!"

Ariadne perked up when Megumi stepped forth with her dish. A curt laugh escaped Ariadne's lips when the dish she presented to the judges...was a terrine, the very dish that had started this whole thing.

"It's the dish which made Shinomiya-senpai fail Megumi-chan!" Inui exclaimed in surprise.

"This dish uses seven varieties of vegetables...it's a rai-rainbow terrine!" Megumi told them.

"Hmm...interesting. So you want to nitpick at my recette, the Nine Vegetable Terrine?" Shinomiya demanded.

"No...um, I-I-I...I just wanted to see...how my recette is!" Megumi replied.

Ariadne sat back and watched as Megumi grew tenser and tenser as she awaited feedback. Each of the judges took a bite, taking a moment to thoroughly taste the dish presented to them. Watching them really made Ariadne want to give it a try.

The collective consensus was that it was delicious.

"You made seven colored layers of pate using potatoes, carrots, zucchini, and other vegetables and the vegetable of each layer is cooked in a way that its flavor livens. I'm amazed you could do all these in such a small amount of time." Sekimori praised. "There's two sauces...a bittersweet sudachi gelee and refreshing green herb sauce which is a paste made from various herbs with perilla as the main ingredient!"

"Hmm...! To think you'd make us eat terrine with sudachi and perilla, that's an interesting idea!" Gotoda agreed.

"The combination of the fragrant saute zucchini and the herb sauce...is superbly refreshing!" Inui chimed in.

"Sudachi and the somewhat sweet tomatoes...also go well." Mizuhara noted.

"I see! By combining the seven layers of pate and the two different sauces...you can enjoy fourteen different flavors! It's exciting how it makes you want to try different patterns." Gotoda remarked.

"Yes...to think these bright colorful stripes aren't only pleasant to the eye but they also have an effect on the taste!" Sekimori agreed.

"Oh...these cherry tomatoes, they're dried tomatoes, right, Tadokoro-kun?" Doujima asked.

"Ye-yes! In my hometown, a lot of snow falls on winter. So we make all of the vegetables we harvested on summer into preserved foods so that we can eat them in winter. We dry them under the sun. When I was helping out with that, my mom...my mother taught me how to do it in an oven. You sprinkle tomatoes cut in half with rock salt and dry them carefully in an oven heated to 120 degrees Celsius. They become sweeter and taste really good. I thought they could become a good accent for the terrine." Megumi replied.

"Yes...tomatoes contain one of the key substances of deliciousness, glutamic acid. By drying them, that deliciousness condensates and the sweetness you feel with your tongue is increased greatly. Shinomiya's Nine Vegetable Terrine is a dish where you can enjoy the flavors of fresh vegetables, but this recette has the goodness born of preserved food with time, all while being another Vegetable Terrine. The good flavors of freshness and deliciousness born from curing. They are totally opposite approaches towards vegetables!" Doujima explained.

And it really made Ariadne's mouth water.

Ariadne was forced to forget her growling stomach, for the moment, when Inui, Sekimori, and Gotoda started arguing about a nickname for Megumi. Ariadne didn't really see the point in that. After all, they were there for them to judge food, not give Megumi some cutesy nickname. Just knowing that these chefs liked her food, though, was enough to reduce Megumi to happy tears. Ariadne was glad for that much, at least.

Megumi needed to learn to have a little more confidence.

"Alright then, it's time for the verdict. These coins represent votes," Doujima told them, holding up a join in one hand. "Each judge will be given one. Choose which had better taste between Shinomiya and Tadokoro-kun."

Ariadne, her arms crossed loosely in her lap, sat back to watch as each judge approached the counter and laid their coin in front of the chef they liked more. Megumi kept her eyes closed the whole time, only opening them when she heard the third click that informed her that the last coin had been laid down. Megumi's eyes fixed in on the plates before them.

Really, Ariadne didn't know what the smirk on Shinomiya's face was for.

It wasn't like he should take any pride from beating a couple of high school students.

"Ha...sorry for you. Well, don't get depressed, this was the expected result. Well then, I have to wake up early tomorrow so I'll excuse myself." Shinomiya said, turning to walk away.

Megumi instantly apologized to Souma and Ariadne, for dragging them into the whole mess, but Ariadne merely waved it off, even as Megumi started crying.

"The difference in ability is evident. I should say this was Shinomiya's complete victory." Doujima remarked before the sound of a coin clicking down on a plate, filled the room.

Shinomiya came to a stop, turning back to see Doujima placing a coin on Megumi's plate.

"The contest should be over. What are you trying to do?" Shinomiya asked.

"Hm, no, well, I just wanted to acknowledge the value of this dish, so I casted my vote." Doujima replied.

"Doujima-san...? Just what are you...?" Gotoda asked, trailing off.

"What are you saying? You weren't even a judge. Moreover, "you acknowledge the value of that dish"? That's beyond my understanding, Doujima-san." Shinomiya remarked.

"You really don't understand?" Doujima asked, flipping a coin to Shinomiya, the latter catching it easily. "The answer lies in the dish Tadokoro-kun made. Shinomiya, aren't you...stagnating?"

Even if he wanted to deny it, the expression on Shinomiya's face wouldn't let him. Ariadne couldn't help but wonder where his smirk was now.

"From the looks of it, he already noticed." Ariadne remarked, propping an elbow on the arm of her chair before dropping her chin into her hand.

"So it would seem." Doujima agreed. "You already noticed that now that you have the medal, you don't know what you should strive for. That you're standing stock still on the top and you heaven't advanced even one step. Stagnation for a chef means two things, retrogression and staying the same. You didn't make one of your specialties for this match because you don't want to let us know that your cooking is on a standstill, right?"

"Shut up! What do you know!? What would you who are just one of Totsuki Group's employees know about me!?" Shinomiya demanded.

Picking up a plate of Megumi's dish, Doujima held it out to Shinomiya.

"Try it. Tadokoro-kun's dish."

"Hmph...why should I?" Shinomiya demanded.

"Because you're a prideful Japanese man and you don't want to seem like a scaredy cat."

Shinomiya turned a glare on Ariadne, she merely shrugged her shoulders in response. Grin on her face, she gestured to the plate in Doujima's hand. The expression on her face said it all...if he didn't try the dish, she wouldn't let him live it down, and, from what he had seen of Ariadne's personality so far, she would drag others into it. Heaving a silent sigh, Shinomiya took the plate and cut off a bite, sticking it into his mouth.

"Hah...the heating was too indulgent. The arrangement too, the pate aren't well-joined either. Doujima-san, haven't you become decre..."

A smile curled Ariadne's lips when Shinomiya trailed off and took another bite. He set the knife and fork down, bracing his hands on the counter top, his mouth twisted. Then, to Ariadne's surprise, a single tear rolled down Shinomiya's cheek before he dropped a coin on Megumi's plate and wiped the tear away. The expression on his face, in that moment, was actually very pleasing to Ariadne's eyes.

Then he opened his mouth again.

"Hey dunce." Shinomiya called out.

"Y-yes!" Megumi replied, her back snapping straight.

"The spices you prepared for the pate...was it allspice?" Shinomiya demanded.

"A spice useful for taking away the unpleasant smells of some foods." Mizuhara remarked.

"It seems that's what you used to remove the bad smell of the chicken liver." Gotoda added.

"Ah...of course there's that too, but since yesterday all of the senpai were constantly eating while judging everyone's cooking. So, um...in addition to removing smells, allspice has a digestive effect, so...e-even if just a bit, I wanted to include something that would make it easier on your stomach." Megumi admitted.

Of course, this had both Inui and Gotoda in tears. Ariadne could understand that. Megumi was, first and foremost, a very sweet person. She was very considerate and that showed in her cooking.

"Even if it's clumsy, it leaves an impression on you." Doujima remarked. "That's the type of cooking it is. Even in a contest, she tried to look out for the people who would be eating her food. You're clearing the way to the top and yet, you still consider such important things?"

Shinomiya didn't respond, lost in his thoughts as he was. It was Inui slamming something down on Megumi's plate that snapped him out of it, the man turning to stare at the woman and the five hundred yen piece she had placed on the plate.

"There...now the votes are tied. In other words, it's a draw. Allow me to take charge of this match!" Inui said.

"Hmm...a tie, which means we should leave Tadokoro-kun as she was before the Food War?" Doujima agreed, grinning.

Shinomiya merely heaved a sigh, too tired to be frustrated with the two.

"Irregular from beginning to end...what a farce." Shinomiya muttered.

"Is that kind of thing really all that bad, though?"

Shinomiya turned to look at Ariadne, who was raising to her feet. Walking over to Megumi, the girl wrapped her arms around Megumi's shoulders, pressing her cheek against Megumi's.

"I knew this sweet little thing would be my knight." Ariadne said, making Megumi close an eye as she rubbed her cheek against hers. "I'm really going to take you home one of these days. Taliyah would love you. Dante and all of our regulars, too."

Shinomiya caught on to Ariadne's words, his eyes snapping to her face as she continued to rub her cheek against Megumi's. For the moment, though, he focused on Megumi. His words bring Ariadne's cheek-rubbing to a stop.

"Well...you've been striving to survive all day long. Dunces have their own way of doing things...right." Shinomiya remarked.

"Good grief, you just can't be honest." Inui scolded, Shinomiya grabbing her head in a tight grip to shut her up.

Ariadne grinned at that, chuckling lowly as she released Megumi. Fleeing Shinomiya, Inui flew to Ariadne, the girl easily welcoming her with open arms, as if she had known the clingy woman for years rather than days. Ariadne pet Inui's head as the woman complained about how mean Shinomiya was, making him glare at her. Leaving his colleagues to their folly, Doujima turned to Megumi.

"Tadokoro-kun, that spirit that's like a warm welcome to people who eat your food, it's "hospitality", that is what is in your cooking! While you're here at Totsuki, please continue to seriously polish that powerful weapon you have. These three coins are an investment into all three of your futures." Doujima told Megumi.

Megumi looked from a smiling Souma, to an equally grinning Ariadne, who gave her a thumbs-up over the head of the clingy Inui. Seeing the confidence the both of them had had in her, and feeling the relief at being able to stay wash over her, Megumi sank to the floor, in tears. With the match over, Megumi, Souma, and Ariadne were dismissed. Souma and Megumi went first, Ariadne finally prying Inui off her in order to follow.

"Sinclair."

Hearing her name, Ariadne came to a stop in the doorway, turning back to look at Shinomiya, who was staring at her intently. Not hearing him call her, or noticing that she had stopped, Megumi and Souma continued on, leaving Ariadne behind with Shinomiya and the others.

"Yes?" Ariadne asked.

"Sinclair...as in Camille and Louis Sinclair? As in-"

Shinomiya cut off as Ariadne, a wicked, playful grin curling her lips, raised a single finger to her lips. The increase of her grin as the others caught on to what Shinomiya was saying, only confirmed his suspicions about Ariadne.

"Now, now, I'll have to ask that you keep that between us. I'm not quite ready for that juicy little tidbit to come out just yet. Don't ruin my fun, please." Ariadne told them, giving them a wink before she turned on her heel, waving a hand over her shoulder. "Good night, senpai."

Ariadne caught up with Souma, who had stayed behind while Megumi had run off ahead to contact the others. Falling into step along side each other, they headed back to their rooms. When they arrived, Ariadne let Souma go in first, and was glad she did.

Yuuki came out of nowhere, hitting Souma hard across the face with a slap. Ariadne took a step back and watched Souma hit the floor.

"How can you be so reckless all the time! We were worried you know! We heard you challenged some graduates to a Food War. We thought you three might all be forced to withdraw!" Yuuki yelled, gripping Souma by the front of his shirt.

"Y-yeah that's right! If Souma-kun and Ari weren't there, I definitely would have dropped out!" Megumi told Yuuki.

"Ah, that may be true but...grr..."

Yuuki trailed off and threw herself at Ryoko, balling like a baby. Ariadne stepped fully into the room, reaching down to help Souma to his feet.

"Don't come crying to me just because you can't find anyone else after losing your temper." Ryoko told Yuuki before turning her attention to the others. "But anyway, we're really glad that you're all three okay!"

Ariadne smiled as, snapping out of whatever funk she had found him in, Souma declared that they would have a hanafuda championship. While she had had fun teasing Shinomiya, Ariadne much preferred the happy, loud cheers of her friends now to the tension that she had been surrounded with earlier.

After all...what good was tension if she couldn't be the one stirring the pot?

-0-0-0-0-

The next day was filled with just as much tension as the one before, the assignments just as harsh and fast pace as the days before. Ariadne and her dorm mates cleared their assignments, though not without some level of exhaustion. It was nine o'clock that night before they all met up.

"As expected, today was really tiring." Yuuki remarked.

"The test to make fifty meals has increased to eighty meals!" Zenji complained.

"And not only that, the customers this time were from another training camp visiting Japan: "Inner Muscle University". As you'd expect of Totsuki...a lot of different types of people come here." Yuuki agreed.

"By the way, when we were in the middle of the test there were a group of guys in suits...what was that about? Cause I had never seen them until today." Souma remarked.

"So you saw them too?" Ariadne asked.

"Huh? Were there people like that there?" Megumi asked.

"I had no idea about that...my head was just full trying to handle the test!" Yuuki added. "Anyway, with only two days left, it seems like we might just make it somehow, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, if we can just keep up this pace." Ryoko replied idly, looking at the schedule in their guidebook. "Oh...?"

"What is it, Sakaki?" Shun asked.

"It's just something from the schedule page of the guidebook. For the third day, there's no bedtime listed for tonight." Ryoko replied.

Ariadne peered over her shoulder, the other girl pointing to the schedule for that day. Ariadne let out a low "huh!" of surprise.

"She's right. Do you think it's a printing error?" Ariadne asked.

Her answer came in the form of an announcement over the PA system calling for all students remaining to gather in the main banquet hall in an hour, dressed in their school uniforms. Ariadne, as they all split up to go change, had a feeling that their lecturers had something planned that they weren't going to like. She changed quickly, and met up with her friends to head down to the banquet hall.

There, they found the remainder of their classmates all worn-out and clearly on their last leg for the day.

"Everyone is obviously worn-out." Ryoko remarked.

"The perfect time to strike and weed more of us out." Ariadne mused.

"Don't say that, Ari!" Yuuki whined.

Ariadne gave Yuuki an apologetic smile as Mito and Takumi found Souma and started griping him out for his recklessness the day before. Ariadne was just glad that they didn't seem as willing to yell at her. They were forced, however, to quiet down as Doujima took the stage.

"Okay, seems like everyone gathered. Everyone, please give your attention to the stage. The reason I had everyone gather here is to inform you all about tomorrow's test." Doujima told them.

Test?

Ariadne had a really bad feeling about this.

"The content of the test...is to provide a new breakfast menu, one that is appropriate for the guests here at Totsuki Resort. Breakfast is a hotel's "face". It's an important meal that directs the beginning of the guest's day. For their table, we want you to propose a course, one that shines like a jewel, and has a fresh surprise." Doujima explained.

In other words, they were expecting the students to devise a new dish that would stand up to the resort's expectations. So far, while it would be challenging, Ariadne didn't see anything that would set off too many warning bells in her head.

"The main ingredient is eggs! Whether the dish is Japanese, western or whatever, the type doesn't matter. The format will be a buffet-type breakfast. The exam starts at six a.m. tomorrow. Be prepared for tasting at that time."

And there was the kicker.

If they wanted to have the time to plan, test and try their dishes...they would get no sleep.

"You're free to use your time as you wish until morning. Every kitchen will be open for use so you may use them for practice runs. It's also fine to return to your room and sleep too. Well then...let us meet again tomorrow morning at six o'clock. Dismissed!" Doujima called out.

Panic instantly set in on the students gathered. Ariadne, though, already had a few ideas in her head. While her father had a specialist with lunch and dinner dishes, her mother had loved coming up with breakfast and dessert ideas. Ariadne, herself, had revised quite a few of her mother's dishes. She was sure there was something she could pluck from those multitude of recipes for this.

Ready to give a few dishes a try, Ariadne wished her friends the best of luck and went in search of a kitchen to use. Along the way, she heard someone call her name.

"Ari!"

Coming to a stop, Ariadne turned, finding Erina coming her way with Hisako just a few steps behind her.

"Oh! Hey, Erina, Hisako. You two off to try some dishes?" Ariadne asked.

"Yes. And you?" Hisako asked.

"I have a few things in mind, yeah. I was off in search of a kitchen area to use." Ariadne replied.

"Join us then. There's no use in you standing in some crowded area with the others." Erina told her.

"Really? _Merci_! I'll gladly take that offer." Ariadne agreed.

The three changed into their chef clothes, Erina leading them to a private area of the kitchens where the three of them could work in silence. Ariadne, a notebook in hand, set up in one corner, setting the notebook down to start flipping through it. She pretty much already had her dish in mind, but, just to be safe, she would tinker with a few different dishes. Erina and Hisako did the same, the three working in comfortable silence for a while.

Finally, Erina, having deemed her work good, decided to call it a night.

"I'm going to go rest already, but are the two of you still doing the test runs?" Erina asked.

"Y-yes! I'm still in the middle of them." Hisako replied.

"I'm just making few more changes and improvements. I should be done in a little while." Ariadne added, writing something down.

"Oh? Well, get some rest as soon as you can. Oh, also..." Ariadne turned as Erina braced her hands on her hips. "Tomorrow night we are going to have a match in Othello! All three of us! Yesterday's Uno game was...that is...I was just a bit off that day, that's all!"

Ariadne found herself smiling, Hisako doing the same.

"Of course! Count me in." Ariadne told her.

With a smile on her face, Erina bid them goodnight. Ariadne and Hisoka turned back to their work, Ariadne making a few more tweaks to her dish. When she deemed it ready to go, she snapped her notebook closed, a pleased grin on her face. Turning, she found Hisako still hard at work.

"Are you nearly done, yet, Hisako?" she asked.

"Not quite. Are you done, Ari?"

"Yeah. I was going to head to bed, but I can stay and keep you company if you want."

"No, no. You don't have to do that. Go on ahead to bed. I'll be done soon enough." Hisako assured her.

"Are you sure?" Ariadne asked.

She really didn't have a problem with keeping the girl company. After all, that was what friends did, right? But Hisako merely waved her off with a smile, insisting she go and get as much sleep as she could. Ariadne gave in, not wanting to stress Hisako out. She gathered her things and wished Hisako a good night. Ariadne went back over her recipe on her way back to her room. Only the sound of approaching footsteps made her look up from her notebook.

Heading her way was a pair of students, one a black-haired boy and the other, a white-haired girl.

The girl caught her looking.

"Oh! You're the other transfer student!" she cheered, hurrying towards Ariadne, who snapped her notebook closed.

"Yes, I am. I'm Sinclair Ariadne. And you?"

"I'm Nakiri Alice! This is Kurokiba Ryo. Oh! Is that your recipe for tomorrow?"

Ariadne raised an eyebrow as the girl, Alice, zeroed in on the notebook in Ariadne's hands. Nakiri, huh? So this girl had to be related to Erina. While Ariadne was aware that family members didn't have to act alike or look alike to be related, she couldn't help but notice just how cheerful Alice was compared to Erina.

"It is. Have you already finished your preparations for tomorrow?" Ariadne asked.

"Of course! So what kind of recipe are you planning on us-"

Ariadne danced out of Alice's reach when the girl reached for the notebook. Giving Alice a playful grin and a wink, Ariadne started off down the hall.

"I think I'll leave you to find out tomorrow. Best of luck!" Ariadne called, vanishing off down the hall.

She would keep her recipe to herself, for the time being. What fun would it be to reveal it ahead of time? So, she headed off to bed, humming to herself as she went. Ariadne would let others worried and fret all night long.

For her, tomorrow was going to be fun.

END

Kyandi: Just so you all know, the recipe Ariadne is going to use in the next chapter, is one I came up with myself and cook, at least, twice a week.

Ariadne: She'd do it more often than that, but some of the ingredients are a little to pricey for that.

Kyandi: Especially now.

Ariadne: Exactly.

Kyandi: I think I might actually make it in the morning.

Ariadne: Oh, your family will love that.

Kyandi: I didn't say I would share.

Ariadne: Of course you didn't...

Kyandi: Anyway, everyone enjoy and review. Please review!

Ariadne: We'll return as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


	7. Egg Breakfast

Kyandi: Greetings, my lovelies!

Ariadne: Today's chapter is going to be featuring an actual recipe that Kyandi-sama loves to make.

Kyandi: It made my mouth water just writing about it.

Ariadne: Of course, with the state of things these days, she can't buy some of the ingredients without breaking bank.

Kyandi: Yeah, that's the sucky part. Anyway, I have some other news.

Ariadne: Is this about my potential love interest?

Kyandi: Yep. When I started this story, I had a guy in mind, but now that I've finished the manga...well, I have another guy in mind. All I'm going to say is that, in a way, he still plays into the title of this story.

Ariadne: If you've read the whole manga, you should be able to figure out who it is.

Kyandi: Best of luck to that. Now, let's get on with this. Everyone, please enjoy and review.

Ariadne: Kyandi-sama does not own Shokugeki no Soma.

Chapter 7 Egg Breakfast

Ariadne woke up at five the next morning, just to check on something she had left to sit over night. She had changed and had just checked on the final element of her dish when there was a chiming noise over the PA system, making her look up from the four huge pots she was loading onto a trolley.

"_Good morning ladies and gentlemen! Please prepare for the judging, starting now!_" came Doujima's voice exactly at six.

Pushing the trolley ahead of her, Ariadne reported to the employees assigning people to their locations in one of the different halls. Ariadne found herself in Hall E. Setting up at her station, she stopped long enough to take a look around her. She didn't see any of her dorm mates from where she stood, but she easily spotted Mito at a station behind her and across the way. Catching the dark skinned girl's eyes, Ariadne smiled and waved, Mito tensing in surprise, her face turning a little red when Ariadne gave her a wink.

"Ariadne!"

Ariadne turned, coming face to face with the widely smiling one of Alice. Apparently, the white-haired girl had the station directly behind Ariadne. She approached Ariadne cheerfully, her smile only growing when her eyes landed on the huge pots sitting on a trolley by her station.

"Good morning, Alice." Ariadne greeted, smiling back at the girl as Alice leaned around her to peer at the pots.

"Oh, are you making a soup or stew of some kind for your breakfast item?" Alice asked.

"Oh, no. Those are merely a topping."

Alice looked up at Ariadne's face, Ariadne giving her a wink. It made Alice curious what Ariadne had up her sleeve that four huge pots were merely toppings for her dish, and her curiosity showed on her face. Reaching out, Ariadne ran a single finger tip under Alice's chin, making the girl turn her face completely towards her. The beginnings of a blush painted Alice's fair cheeks as Ariadne's face closed in on hers, her nose just a mere inch from hers.

"If you're so curious about my dish, Alice, I can save you some to try after this is over. Can you be a good girl and wait until then?" Ariadne asked.

For a moment, "stunned" didn't come anywhere close to describing how Alice felt. She could only stare into the icy blue depths of Ariadne's eyes, silently surprised by the other girl's obvious flirting to respond. Then she snapped herself out of it and pulled back away from Ariadne, presenting the French girl with her back as she crossed her arms.

"Of course I can!" Alice retorted.

"_Parfaite_! Then I'll be sure to set aside a plate for you. We best get back to our stations, then."

Ariadne gave Alice a wink when she peered over her shoulder at her, and turned to head back to her station. She quickly got to work setting up her assembly line, getting everything ready to go. She had just gotten everything ready when the doors to the hall opened and Doujima's voice sounded over the speakers set up around the hall.

"_First of all, I'll introduce the judges! They are food suppliers in partnership with Totsuki Resort! As well as their families! Every year they are entrusted with judging at this training camp, and they have already been informed of the "Egg dish with a surprise" theme. The test will be conducted in an extremely precise manner. And from our very own Totsuki Resort, staff from the cooking and service divisions will join the judges. There will be two criteria for this test...whether or not the professional suppliers and staff here approve of your idea, and the second one is...from now, you have to accomplish serving two hundred meals within two hours! Those who meet that will pass! Now, everyone, please enjoy this breakfast time to your fullest. Begin the judging!_"

Two hours and two hundred plates.

It wouldn't be an easy feat if the people didn't like the dish, and they would stop to try the dish if it didn't look and smell good enough to them. So, not only did they have to appeal to the judges' sense of taste, they had to first attract their attention.

As a girl who always attracted attention, both good and bad, Ariadne didn't think she would have a problem with that.

Especially not with what she did when she took cooking seriously.

For not, she would save that for another time.

With the judges now spilling into the hall, Ariadne got to cooking, moving easily down her assembly line to turn out trays covered in her dish. She was just setting up to dish out her toppings when someone approached her station.

"What's this?" Ariadne looked up, finding Doujima's sous-chef, Sena Hiromi, standing before her, looking down at the dish before him. "Is this French Toast? And what's this on top?"

Ariadne grinned as the man picked up a plate looking down at the food.

On the plate sat a single, thick slice of bread topped with what looked like a folded omelette, fresh sliced strawberries and blueberries topping that. But there was something different about the omelette. Instead of a rich, yellowish color, there were swirls of brown within the egg and the pleasant scent of maple and cinnamon filled his nose.

"It's a French Toast Omelette." Sena turned his eyes to Ariadne, who smiled back at him brightly. "It's a specialty of mine. You take a single slice of a nice, fluffy Texas toast and dip it in a mixture of eggs, milk, vanilla extract, sugar, and cinnamon, and fry. Taking the left-over egg mixture and a square pan, you coat the pan in a little butter and pour in the eggs, preparing them almost like you would an omelette, but without any other added ingredients apart from a little salt."

"An omelette made with cinnamon and sugar?" Sena asked.

"Yes, but there's even more to that dish than what you see. Here, allow me to add the final topping for you and then you can try it for yourself."

Ariadne held out her hand for the plate he was holding. Sena, curious now, and with several people gathering around behind him to see his reaction to the dish, handed the plate over to Ariadne. The girl quickly turned to one of her pots and opened the lid. Dipping a ladle down into it she drizzled the top of the dish with a layer of amber colored syrup that seemed far too light to be an everyday syrup. Turning back to Sena, she presented him with the plate.

"_Volia!_ Please enjoy."

Sena took the plate from her and picked up a fork. He was surprised to find the whole dish, bread and all, easy enough to cut through with his fork. Making sure to get a little bit of everything in a bite, he stuck it into his mouth.

The instantly onslaught of flavors washed over his tongue in a rush, making him pause in order to process the taste. There was the fluffiness of the french toast, carefully seasoned with the sugar and cinnamon, followed but the equal fluffiness of the eggs, the sweetness and tanginess of the fruits, the sweetness of the dish taken even further by the rich and subtle sweetness of the syrup.

But there was something else between the toast and egg.

Looking down at the dish in his hand, Sena peered between the bread and egg, his eyes widening.

"Between the toast and egg...is that..."

"A pork sausage, crumbled perfectly and seasoned with white pepper, sage, a little cayenne pepper for kick, and maple syrup. It's where the maple smell is coming from." Ariadne told him.

"If you put maple syrup in the sausage, then what did you drizzle on top? It doesn't taste like a normal syrup. It's far too light, the sweetness far more subtle than any other part of the dish." Sena remarked, unable to stop from taking another bite, making Ariadne's smile grow.

"It's a special syrup made by your's truly using Blue Agave Nectar." Ariadne replied.

"Blue Agave Nectar!?"

Sena looked up from the dish, unable to believe his ears.

"Yes. It contains about fifty-six percent fructose and tends to be between one point four to one point six times sweeter than regular sugar. I substituted it into my syrup because while the rest of the dish and distinctively sweet, the Blue Agave Nectar I chose has a mild, almost neutral flavor, allowing it add to the dish, without overpowering the taster with sweetness. Not everyone has my level of sweet tooth. By using the Blue Agave Nectar instead of a normal syrup, I can appeal to the sweet tooth in everyone, give them a little pick-me-up early in the morning and give them a burst of energy to carry them through to lunch, all without over loading their taste buds. By using a Texas toast verses normal bread and adding in sausage, it also gives the dish a little more bulk, insuring that the customer doesn't walk away with only a half-filled stomach."

Sena was taken by surprise. Normally, sweet dishes were meant as appetizers or desserts. They weren't actually meant to fill a person up, or pass for a main dish. Ariadne, though, had taken a dish that, normally, wouldn't have been something presented as main course, and had filled it out to be just that.

"I had to be very careful with the type of Blue Agave Nectar, I used, though." Ariadne went on, moving on to start serving more plates to the people now crowding around her station. "I chose a Light agave syrup, simply because of it's mild flavor. An amber agave syrup has a more medium-intensity caramel flavor. Because of that, it's used in a lot of dishes and drinks with stronger flavors. Not something I needed in this dish. Then there's dark agave syrups with have stronger notes of caramel and imparts a distinct flavor to dishes, such as some desserts, poultry, meat, and seafood dishes. To be honest, amber and dark agave syrups are typically used out-of-bottle for waffles, pancakes, and french toast, but given my dish, it would have been too much, and besides...I have no way of knowing if anyone here has fructose intolerance, so I went with the easiest to digest."

All that, and Ariadne still had considered more about her costumers than the average chef when she had been creating her dish. Sena was forced to admit that her dish was a good one, putting a wide grin on Ariadne's face as she thanked him. After seeing the sous-chef bow his head to Ariadne and her dish, more people swarmed her station, wanting to try the dish. It was no surprise to Ariadne, but the dish was really popular with the children present, but thanks to the subtle sweetness, even the older adults seemed to like the dish.

Ariadne quickly cleared the two hundred plate marker, taking that moment to pause long enough to turn and check on Mito and Alice. Mito, it seemed, had hit a bit of a snag at the one hundred and fifty plate marker, but Ariadne had no doubt that she would manage somehow.

And then there was Alice.

At first, no one had really approached her station, but now, the girl's station was just as over flowing with customers as Ariadne's. Both of them, even after clearing the two hundred plates, continued to serve a steady stream of people. Ariadne, as she promised, set one serving aside to give to Alice afterward, and went back to serving, humming to herself as she moved down her assembly line.

It looked like the girl was about two second away from starting to dance.

Peeking back over her shoulder when she had a spare moment, Ariadne met Alice's eyes, the two girls grinning at each other when they saw the amount of dishes they were both starting to stack up. In the end, it would just be a matter of which of them ran out of ingredients first. The two moved as fast as they could, flying around their stations as they cooked and served.

With ten minutes to spare, after serving three hundred and eighty plates, Alice ran out of ingredients. Waving to Ariadne, she left the hall to go see how Erina and Souma were fairing with their dishes. She arrived in time to watch Souma race to a finish, finishing his two hundred plates with only five seconds to spare.

Covered in sweat and out of breath, Souma gave Erina, who was in the next station over from him, a thumbs up.

"What's with that "did you see that?" face!?" Erina scolded. "Finishing at the last moment isn't something to be proud-"

"That was surprising!" Erina cut off as Alice popped up between them. "I thought you would get stuck at about eight meals! But, to think you'd get through by pulling off that stunt. But, cooking while relying on reckless stunts like that won't let you reach the top, what's need is a work constructed with an approach based on cutting-edge theories. Like my cooking...for example. Okay? I haven't given my name yet, right? I'm Nakiri Alice. That's the name of the one who will stand on top of you, make sure to remember it."

"Nakiri...Alice...Nakiri?" Souma repeated.

"That's right, Erina and I are cousins. We lived in the same mansion until we were five." Alice confirmed.

"Milady." Alice turned when she heard Ryo call out to her. The boy approached, looking about as dazed as he normally did. "You were here...what are you doing?"

"Oh my, you have perfect timing! Now, explain it." Alice ordered.

"Huh?" Ryo questioned.

"Give Yukihira Souma-kun an introduction to my personal history!" Alice ordered.

Not that Souma had asked for that.

"Ermmm...Milady Alice and Milady Erina are cousins and-"

"I said that already!" Alice retorted, cutting Ryo off. "Enough! I'll say it! My father founded Nakiri International with my mother's homeland, Northern Europe...Denmark, as it's headquarters. There they first researched on new cooking techniques based on molecular gastronomy. And not they also research the mechanisms of the senses of taste and smell, and they even include brain physiology in their research. it's an integrated research facility for gourmet food! I lived there until I was fourteen and then came to Totsuki. All that to defeat Erina and stand on the top of Totsuki!"

"Hmph. To a cook that only appreciates new techniques, my cooking will never lose." Erina replied.

"Oh my, such hatred! Erina, you're always like that! When we were three, you took my toy away. You said that the cake I baked for your fourth birthday was horrible. And I will never forget that when we were five-"

"Th-that's unrelated to this!" Erina snapped, getting flustered.

Alice merely turned to Souma and ignored Erina's outburst.

"And you, too...! Yukihira Souma-kun. You sure talked big at the entrance ceremony, but the era where artisan skills were highly praised is over. You don't have the caliber to stand on Totsuki's top, to prove that you barely finished an assignment that required to make only two hundred meals." Alice told him.

"Right!? I panicked a bit there! I really failed there." Souma admitted easily, smiling a goofy, sheepish smile. His admittance completely took Alice and Erina by surprise, making the two look at him strangely. "But, now I've got the experience of failing."

Alice, having hoped to poke him for his near failure, puffed a cheek out in annoyance.

"Mm...what a cunning man. Anyway! I won't lose to you people, okay!? I'm waiting expectantly for the moment I get to defeat you personally." Alice told him, turning to leave.

"Alice~!"

Alice jolted forward a step when arms suddenly wrapped around her shoulders from behind, weight pressing into her back. Twisting to peer over her shoulder, Alice was confronted with the smiling face of Ariadne.

"Ariadne?!" Alice gasped in surprise.

"Come on, Alice, call me Ari." Ariadne insisted before holding a sealed container out in front of Alice's face. "And you forgot this. You wanted to try my dish, remember? But then you just ran off, even though I finished not long after you."

Ariadne gave Alice a playful pout, feigning an expression like she had truly been wounded by Alice's actions. Taking Ariadne's expression for an honest one, Alice quickly explained that she had wanted to check out Souma and Erina's progress before the whole thing was over. Ariadne revealed she was teasing her by laughing, making one of Alice's cheeks puff out again. Taking the dish from Ariadne, Alice waved a farewell, and walked away with Ryo, Ariadne grinning as she waved back.

"So you finished with no problems?" Souma asked Ariadne.

"Yep. I ran out of ingredients after serving three hundred and eighty-six plates. Wish I could have kept going, though. It would have been nice to break the four hundred marker." Ariadne replied.

Having only barely cleared two hundred, himself, Souma could only awkwardly chuckle.

"_This is a message for those who completed two hundred meals!_" Everyone looked up as another announcement sounded over the speakers. "_The next assignment starts in four hours. The time until then is free time._"

"Oh, boy. Here we go again." Ariadne said even as a grin curled her lips and the people around her started freaking out.

"That's right...the training camp isn't over yet!" Souma agreed.

Ariadne and Souma gave each other a knowing look. A simple nod passed between them before they took off their separate ways. It was going to be another full day of running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.

Ariadne really was starting to have fun.

-0-0-0-0-

By the time they reached four p.m. on the fifth day of the camp, what students remained, were exhausted. Even Ariadne was starting to feel it. She hadn't felt this exhausted in three or four years. Gathering up with the rest of the students, Ariadne laid a comforting hand on the shoulder of a nervous Megumi.

"What can it be? They suddenly told us to gather in the lobby." Megumi fretted.

"There's nothing written on the guidebook either." Ryoko added.

"Eh...wait a sec, this pattern...!"

Yuuki started freaking out that the pattern was awfully similar to the egg breakfast challenge. Ariadne heaved a sigh as Yuuki dived into her chest, already crying that she couldn't take anymore. Lightly petting Yuuki's head, Ariadne turned her eyes to the others.

"No matter what it is, we've survived this far. We'll handle it as we have thus far. So take a breath and calm down." Ariadne assured them.

They just hoped she was right.

As Doujima entered the lobby, taking a microphone in hand, everyone tensed, ready for the worst.

"_Before getting to the issue in hand, a brief comment...currently, three hundred and fifty-two students have dropped out and the remaining student number is...six hundred and twenty-eight. It might seem cruel but the cooking profession isn't but a microcosms. To survive as a chef every single ability and readiness is necessary. You must not lose your cool in unknown situations, and keep an interaction with the ingredients. As a chef, you'll always be under heavy pressure. You must resist the nights where you are tormented by anxiety and hesitation, and be able to deal with and conduct yourself on diverse situations. Living as a cook is similar to roaming about alone on the wilderness under a storm._"

Ariadne could definitely see that. It was a path that could blind a person if they weren't aware of themselves and their surroundings at all times.

"_The more you master cooking, the more your feet will tangle and your objective blur. There might be people that lose even the way back and get stuck on the summit by the time they notice. However, I don't want you to forget that on this place called Totsuki, you had comrades that left their footprints together with you on that same wilderness. Because ti's that fact, what will encourage you eventually on your lonely travel. I wish you the best of luck! Well then...let's proceed with the final program of this training camp._"

Ariadne could feel the tension around her peak. The melt down that rippled through the students, was intense. As the doors to the hall opened, several students even looked like they would faint.

But then they were greeted with the staff ready to serve them.

"_This is a message fro the six hundred and twenty-eight students that survived this far...congratulations on clearing all the assignments of this lodging training! The last program is a modest banquet to celebrate the completion of this training camp. Enjoy it to the fullest!_" Doujima announced, cheers of relief and giddy excitment, exploding from the students. "_Now, everyone to the tables! Starting now we'll have you taste a full course made by the alumni!_"

Relieved that they had all managed to make it through, Ariadne and her friends took their seats, enjoying the food presented to them, all while laughing and enjoying each other's company. It had been a long week, and Ariadne was sure that it wasn't going to be the hardest thing she would have to do before the school year was out, but that was part of the reason why she had come to Totsuki in the first place.

The challenge.

Whatever came next, she would enjoy her time with her friends while she could.

-0-0-0-0-

The next morning, the students packed up and reported to the lobby, getting ready to head back to the school. It was there that Souma and Megumi ran into Shinomiya.

"Oh...Shinomiya-senpai!" Souma called out.

Shinomiya, suitcase in hand, looked up as Souma called his name, coming to a stop.

"It seems you managed to survive." Shinomiya remarked.

"Well, somehow, thanks to you!" Souma replied.

Shinomiya merely snorted deep in his throat, his eyes scanning the area around them, as if in search of someone. Not seeing who he was looking for, Shinomiya turned his eyes back to Souma and Megumi.

"Where's your mouthy friend from that night? Did she not make it through?" he asked.

Souma opened his mouth to reply, but another voice beat him to it.

"Aw, are you worried about me, Shinomiya-senpai?"

Face twisting in a half annoyed, half angry expression at the sound of the teasing, slightly mocking tone coming from behind him, Shinomiya rounded on a grinning Ariadne, her bag in hand.

"I'm not concerned about the likes of you!" he snapped at her, his voice rising.

"Oh, come now, Shinomiya-senpai," Ariadne purred, her lips curling even further into a grin as she leaned forward to peer up into his face. "You don't have to be so shy. I won't tell anyone."

Shinomiya didn't even know what to begin to say to her, and his inability to get something out of his mouth only had the girl's grin growing. He knew she was only teasing him, that the girl seemed to thrive off teasing others, but that did nothing to stop him from responding to it none the less. Megumi decided to have mercy on him, and changed the subject before Ariadne could really start poking at him.

"That suitcase...yo-you're already going back to France?" Megumi asked, looking down at Shinomiya's suitcase.

"Yeah, I can't keep my restaurant closed forever. Besides...I've decided my next objective." Shinomiya replied, turning away from Ariadne.

"Well, that's good." Shinomiya looked down at Ariadne, as, dropping her teasing grin, she stood up straight. "A good chef like you...It would be a shame if you stayed in that rut for too long."

It seemed the girl could be less teasing and more serious when she wanted to be.

Shocker.

Not that he said that out loud. She might go right back to teasing him.

"I'll make Shino's Paris' most famous restaurant and get three stars. The Purusupooru isn't enough for me now." Shinomiya declared.

"Good luck with that. You'll have to get past Devil's Food first." Ariadne told him.

"What's Devil's Food?" Souma asked, as Shinomiya made a face.

"It's currently the number one, top ranked restaurant in all of France. It even has branches in seventeen different countries across three continents. It's so huge a name that it has even dipped it's fingers into several other fields within the culinary world. If he wants to make Shino's the most famous restaurant in Paris, he'll first have to topple Devil's Food." Ariadne told him.

"I'm a little surprised you haven't heard of them before, Souma-kun. They're a huge name. Several people say that their food is so good, you'll sell your soul to the devil for some." Megumi added.

"Hence the name Devil's Food." Ariadne added. "But if anyone can surpass that monolith of a brand, it'll have to be Shinomiya-senpai."

Shinomiya looked down at Ariadne, who gave him a grin. He couldn't tell if she was teasing him, or if she actually thought that. He didn't get the chance to ask, or say what he was about to say before they heard the loud voice of Inui as she made a dash for Shinomiya's back.

"Wait! I won't let you steal a march on us, Shinomiya-senpai!" Inui insisted.

"I don't understand what you mean." Shinomiya told her, but Inui simply pushed him aside, her, Gotoda and Sekimori approaching Megumi while Mizuhara approached Yukihira.

Apparently the four had their eyes on Megumi and Souma. Ariadne hid a laugh behind her hand, watching the confused looks that feel on her friends' faces. She was snapped out of her laughing, though, when Inui turned to look at her.

"You must come to me!" Inui insisted, latching onto Ariadne's hand.

"Now, now, Inui-senpai. If I did that, it would make others jealous. Are you asking me to be cruel to others?" Ariadne teased, making Inui pout at her.

Ariadne reached out to pat the older woman's head as she cried about Ariadne's vague reply. It was then that Doujima and his sous-chef, Sena, showed up.

"To think they're already calling out for students who are still enrolled. I guess they have recognized their skills." Doujima remarked.

"Chef Doujima! Wh-what is this?" Megumi asked.

"For the sake of coming to this training came, they have closed their restaurants temporarily or left them to their sous-chef. Doing that much for free wouldn't really be worth it, right?" Sena replied.

"You have a point." Souma conceded.

"Ultimately, this training camp also serves to look for potential recruits before they graduate. A cook gets more training as he moves from one restaurant to another. Depending on your talent you'll move to new stages. That's precisely why for an owner chef getting trainees is a matter of the highest priority. How hard getting the "right stuff" needed in a kitchen, is something that the alumni know best. That's why they come to evaluate Totsuki's enrolled students. This training camp is beneficial for both the academy and the alumni." Sena explained.

"Basically, it give all of the alumni the chance to see which of us they might be interested in hiring later on down the road." Ariadne said.

"Exactly." Sena agreed. "Yukihira-kun...you could prove successful even in Totsuki Resort, you're always welcome to come here."

"That sounds pretty nice, but I have Yukihira." Souma replied.

"Right...your home is a restaurant." Doujima remarked.

"Yes, it's the restaurant my old man and I managed. I don't know where he is or what he's doing now though." Souma replied.

"Well...the offer stands for you, too, Sinclair-chan." Sena said, turning to look at Ariadne. "You could do wonderfully here at Totsuki Resort."

Ariadne smiled more to herself as all eyes turned to her. Gripping the handle of her suitcase in both hands, she clasped her hands behind her back, giving Sena a bright smile.

"I wonder about that. I still have plenty of time to think about that because I don't plan to be dropped from Totsuki anytime soon." Ariadne said. "Besides...I have my goals too."

Ariadne didn't clarify on that in the least, leaving them to think and guess whatever they would. She gave Inui another pet of the head in goodbye and followed Megumi and Souma, waving to the other chefs as she spun on the spot to head for the door.

Ariadne wasn't inclined to share with anyone what her future plans were. She knew what she had to do and what path she wanted to take to get there. Until she was good and ready to share, she didn't see the point in telling anyone the reason why she had enrolled in Totsuki in the first place. It wouldn't serve her any purpose, after all.

Let others spin their wheels trying to figure her out.

That was what made it all fun, in the end.

END

Kyandi: I just love how much you tease people! It's so much fun to write.

Ariadne: I've noticed. It's just showing how much of a tease you are, deep down.

Kyandi: I don't know about that.

Ariadne: Do I need to bring up all the times, in just the last week, that you've teased your family?

Kyandi: No, no. I think we're good.

Ariadne: My point exactly.

Kyandi: Meh. Okay, so you might have a point.

Ariadne: Might?

Kyandi: That's all I'm going to concede, so deal with it. Anyway, everyone, please enjoy and review.

Ariadne: We'll return as soon as we can!

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


	8. A Chicken Holiday

Kyandi: Hey, Kyandiacs!

Ariadne: We're back with another chapter for all of you.

Kyandi: This one is a little on the longer side, simply because I didn't want to have to split this into two chapters.

Ariadne: She's ready to get on to the Autumn Selection.

Kyandi: Yes, I am! I'm actually ready to get on past the Autumn Selection, but one step at a time.

Ariadne: Exactly.

Kyandi: So, everyone, please enjoy and review.

Ariadne: Kyandi-sama does not own Shokugeki no Soma.

Chapter 8 A Chicken Holiday

After returning home to the Polar Star dorm, Ariadne was happy to switch from their winter uniforms to their summer uniforms. She had never been much of a fan of long sleeves, hence the modifications she had made to her winter uniform.

Modifications that carried over into her summer uniform as well.

A few weeks after the training camp, Ariadne and the other students, found themselves with a nice long break. Many students were taking this chance to either go on little trips with their research societies, like Megumi was, or to go home. Today found Ariadne sitting in the lobby of the dorm, helping Megumi to check off her packing list when Isshiki and Souma walked in the door, talking.

"Do you have any plans for the weekend?" Isshiki asked Souma.

"Weekend?" Souma asked.

"Several classes get suspended due to events related to the academy's administration around this time. If you include the weekend, you basically get a string of holidays. That's why a lot of students use it to go on trips or go back home. Look...it seems she's packing already." Isshiki said, gesturing to where Ariadne was helping Megumi pack.

"Oh, Tadokoro! Where are you going? A trip?" Souma asked.

"This is part of the Local Cuisine Research Society's activities. The plan's to go to various regions and check out their ingredients and seasonings! Ari's helping me pack." Megumi told him.

"Sounds interesting." Souma told her, turning to Isshiki. "Isshiki-senpai, what are you going to do?"

"I have to work on the Polar Star plantation. Yoshino-kun will also stay to take care of the animals." Isshiki replied.

"And you, Ari?" Souma asked.

"I had hoped to visit home, even if for a short while, but Taliyah is going on a summer trip with her classmates and Dante is acting as a chaperone, so it's not like there will be anyone home, anyway. So I'm staying here." Ariadne replied.

"What about your parents?" Souma asked.

The expression that came over Ariadne's face, was answer enough. They watched as her smile wavered, vanishing for a moment, before she plastered it back on her face and gave them a big smile that was obviously fake, before she geared the subject in a different direction.

"Anyway, you're going to go back home and air out Yukihira, right?" Ariadne asked.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I will. I need to do maintenance and air it out every once in a while and I haven't been back since transferring here." Souma replied.

"Well, if you want some help with that, I'm pretty handy." Ari offered, handing a stack of clothes to Megumi for the girl to pack away.

"Alright, great! If you're sure." Souma replied.

"Yeah. My greenhouse will be fine without me for a short while, and I'd like to see where you grew up. I'm curious." Ariadne replied.

With the plan set, the two agreed that they would head out the next day.

-0-0-0-0-

"So this is Yukihira?"

Ariadne looked up at the building before her. It was a nice, quaint, little building on a street lined with shops. Ariadne could see it being a busy place in the highlight of business hours. Especially after school hours when student were heading home.

"Yeah. Come on inside." Souma told her, leading the way in.

Hiking her bag up on her shoulder, Ariadne followed Souma into the building. The door they came in through, leading them into a storage room off the kitchen. While Souma closed the door behind them, Ariadne carried on into the kitchen, her eyes sweeping over the place.

"What do you think?" Souma asked, pride obvious in his voice.

"Definitely has the feel of a family place. I like it." Ariadne replied, smile on her face.

Grinning with pride, Souma moved past her and towards the portion of the building that served as the Yukihira homestead.

"We got a spare room you can use, but you'll probably have to air it out." he told her, leading the way.

"That's fine. The whole building looks like it could use some airing out." Ariadne replied, following him.

"Yeah, it does. I'll get to that while you get settled." Souma told her, gesturing to the door leading to the room she was going to be using.

"Thanks, Souma. For indulging my whim and all."

"Hey, I get it. You can't go home to see your family." Souma replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Having something to do is better than nothing."

"Right."

Souma gave her a nod and headed back to the shop, leaving Ariadne to get settled. The room was simple and bare save for a bed, nightstand, and dresser. Ariadne dropped her bag on the bed and went to the window, opening it to let the dusty room air out.

The two of them would stay there for a few days, giving them the chance to relax after everything at school. Ariadne was looking forward to Souma showing her around the shopping district he called home. She hadn't gotten to do much local shopping since entering Totsuki, and couldn't help but wonder if the shopping district they were now in the middle of, was anything like the ones back home.

Ariadne was leaning on the sill of the window, staring out at the district while thinking of home when she heard a sudden yell of Souma's name from the front of the shop. Shocked and curious, Ariadne flew out of the room and through the building. She reached the now open front of the shop to find Souma surrounded by some old, middle school friends. Souma caught sight of her as she came to a stop in the doorway.

"Oh, hey, Ari. Sorry if we disturbed you." Souma told her, grinning sheepishly and making his friends turn to her.

"No, it's alright. Are these your friends?" Ariadne asked, giving the four a smile.

One of the two boys, an obvious flirt, just about started drooling at the sight of Ariadne in the halter top, thigh-length, dark blue dress she was wearing that made no effort to hide her figure. He instantly introduced himself and started flirting, asking who she was.

"I'm a classmate of Souma's." Ariadne told him.

"Yeah, this is Sinclair Ariadne. She's from France and lives in the same dorm as me." Souma told his friends.

"Oh? Is she your girlfriend?" one of the girls asked while the second girl, a smaller girl with a cute bob haircut, freaked out in the background.

"Sorry, but no. Souma isn't my type. Now, this little cutie," Ariadne, before the other girl could react, slide up beside the nervous acting girl, Kurase Mayumi, and gave her grin as she tilted the other girl's head back with a single finger under her chin. "Is completely my type."

Ariadne couldn't help but grin as the girl freaked out, unsure of how to deal with this while her friends all gaped, open-mouthed at Ariadne.

"She's joking, right, Yukihira?" one of the boys asked.

"No one can ever tell with Ari." Souma replied simply, shrugging his shoulders, as if he had long since accepted that this was just how Ariadne was.

Which was pretty much the case.

Just then, there was a yell of, "Yukihira is open?!", making all of them turn as a group of people started to form. Many adults came rushing up to Souma, begging him to make them something since they had missed the food from Yukihira's.

"Alright! Wait a sec! I'll get some ingredients right away! Restaurant Yukihira will reopen for a short while! Ari, come help me." Souma called, already tying on his apron.

"Sure!" Ariadne called, giving Mayumi a wink before hurrying after Souma.

While Souma took to the kitchen, tossing an apron out to Ariadne, who easily caught it and tied it over her clothes, Ariadne went about taking orders, calling them to Souma as he got to work cooking. As word spread through the district that Souma had reopened the restaurant, the tables begin to fill up. Souma left Ariadne to run the dinning room while he cooked, the girl getting along easily with the neighbors he had grown up with.

Then again, that was Ariadne.

When the girl wasn't trying to tease the patience out of a person, she was actually quite the people person. And she worked fast. She moved about the restaurant like she had been working there for years, taking orders and serving food with a smile on her face. Souma was happy enough to leave the serving, table clearing, and order taking all to her.

It was when Souma was seeing off one customer that he noticed something.

"Aren't the streets kind of empty today? It's usually a lot more crowded at this time of the day..." Souma turned towards one of the last table of customers where three men sat, all three now hanging their heads in gloom. "Hm...what's wrong, young gentlemen of the shopping district?"

"Is...Is huge capital that important!?"

Ariadne, who had been cleaning the next table over, jumped when one of the men suddenly yelled and had to jump forward to save two plates she nearly dropped. She managed to catch the plates before they could fall to the ground and break. The man, who introduced himself as Tomita, apologized for startling her. Once he calmed down, he explained to Souma and Ariadne what was going on in the district.

"Exactly one month ago, the station's commercial area opened after it's renewal. Those "in-station stores"." Tomita told them.

"In-station stores...its a really good type of store if you want to cater to people rushing to catch their train." Ariadne remarked.

"Exactly. Our station has clothes stores and many other shops, but after all is said and done, the main attraction are the deli brands! The "karaage" that has an especially good reputation, is part of a chain that has won first place for three years running in the All Japan Karaage Convention! As a result, they completely ignore the shopping district. The number of clients just goes down. My bento shop's sales have been dropping dramatically! At this rate, I don't know how long I'll be able to keep the shop..." Tomita told them, in tears.

"Really? This isn't time to be eating so carelessly then." Souma told him, even as the man requested seconds.

"Moreover, there's a karaage boom right now." This came from the second girl that had shown up with Souma's friends, Koganei Aki. "I saw on the TV that the number of shops specialized on karaage are increasing in Kanto."

"Well...it's just how the times go." one of the other men said.

"The shopping district's already done for." added the third.

"I don't know about that." Everyone turned to look at Ariadne as she stacked another plate up in her arms. She gave them all a bright smile before turning to Souma. "Souma?"

"Yeah. We'll try to do something about it." Souma agreed, the two teenagers getting weird looks from the men. "You said their main force is karaage, right? We'll make a new karaage that'll rival it in this shopping district!"

"No way...that's reckless, Souma-chan." Tomita insisted. "The difference in appeal and capital is obvious. The opponent is just too strong."

"It's better than doing nothing. And clients are greedy. If it's a really good thing, they'll definitely find it. As part of Yukihira, I can't let this place become deserted. Let's steal the clients back with a new karaage and revive the shopping district!" Souma declared, the others cheering along with him. "Alright! I'll use this holiday to it's fullest and make the best dish! You in, Ari?"

"Of course, I am. You know me," Ariadne gave Souma a grin over her shoulder as she carried dishes towards the kitchen. "I'm always up for a challenge. We'll have to get more ingredients and run some trial dishes."

With just that comment, Souma and Ariadne begun running through a verbal list of things they would have to get so they could start their trial dishes, the two comparing ideas on seasoning for breading and other things. Only Aki butting in, broke the two up.

"Hey, Yukihira, shouldn't you two have a taste tester?" Aki asked before shoving Mayumi towards Souma. "She isn't in any club so she had free time and I'm sure she's a great taste tester!"

"Oh! Then, sorry, but we'll be counting on you, Kurase!" Souma replied, oblivious to what was actually going on.

While Mayumi blushed and stumbled on over her words, Ariadne turned towards Aki, lowering her voice so that only Aki could hear.

"She likes Souma, doesn't she?" Ariadne asked.

"Yeah." Aki replied.

"I see..."

Aki turned to look at Ariadne, who was grinning to herself, the look on her face suggesting that there were some mischievous plans cooking up in her brain. Ariadne gave Aki a large grin before turning towards Souma who had been talking to Mayumi.

"Now that we have dear Kurase's help, I think we should check out the competition's dish first. See what we're up against. It'll help us with deciding on how to proceed with our dish." Ariadne said.

"You're right. I've made karaage a few times here, but it's like the training camp's buffet assignment. We might need some special knowledge about side dishes." Souma replied, thinking.

"Well, if it chicken meat we're talking about, I can think of one person we can call for help." Ariadne suggested.

Souma could only think of one person Ariadne could be talking about.

This was going to be interesting.

-0-0-0-0-

"Ikumi!"

The next morning, Mito arrived at Yukihira's and was nearly bowled over as Ariadne.

Ariadne came flying out the door of Yukihira's today dressed in a skin tight, sleeveless, cropped, red turtle neck top with a even more cropped, black halter top tied over it, short jean shorts, red thigh-high stockings, and black ankle boots. The French girl instantly threw her arms around Mito's neck, greeting her with a chaste kiss on each cheek.

"Yukihira didn't tell me that you were here, Sinclair." Mito managed to get out.

"Please, call me Ari. I wasn't able to go home and see my family for the holiday, so Souma asked if I wanted to come with him and see the shopping district here." Ariadne told her, taking her by the hand to lead her into the shop. "Souma, Ikumi's here!"

Souma was standing near the bar, Mayumi at his side. At the sight of Mito, Mayumi's jaw dropped and the girl froze on the spot. She had thought Ariadne stunning, when she had first met the girl, but Mito was equally so. Mayumi couldn't help but wonder just how many well-endowed, pretty girls Souma went to school with now.

Souma, ever oblivious to the thoughts and feelings of those around him, turned to Mayumi to introduce her to Mito.

"Thisi s my classmate from middle school, Kurase! Ari and I asked her to taste the dish." Souma told Mito. "And she's my classmate from high school, call her Nikumi-"

"Don't spread that nickname around! I'll kill you!" Mito snapped.

Mito had been disappointed when she had found out that Ariadne was there, but she had understood what had led to the French girl's presence, but add in the presence of an old middle school friend and Mito's disappointed rose. Though she tried to deny that she felt disappointed at all.

Ariadne was just finding the whole tension between Mayumi and Mito, and Souma's obliviousness to it all, to be hilarious.

"Well...! Now that we have everyone in position, let's go observe the enemy for the Karaage Battle!" Souma declared.

Souma lead the way to the train station. When they arrived, they found the place to be extremely busy, people rushing back and forth.

"It's true! It looks really neat now. These are the in-station stores. Huh...they look kind fashionable." Souma remarked, looking around. "With something like this here, our shopping district doesn't stand a chance."

"I-it's no laughing matter, Yukihira-kun." Mayumi told him.

"She's right, Souma. Don't sound so cheerful about that." Ariadne told him from where she was walking along side Mito.

Mayumi, feeling awkward when compared to Mito and Ariadne, who strutted through the station as if they were on the walkway, watched the two girls from behind. She was surprised, when she looked around, to find that every guy they passed, openly stared at the two.

Not that either of them really noticed.

Both were too busy looking at the shops around them, Ariadne folding her arms behind her back as she walked. Mito only noticed that one person was staring, and it was that Mayumi was staring. Rounding on Mayumi, her expression showing how annoyed she was, Mito braced her hands on her hips.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Mito demanded.

"Hey, don't bully Kurase, Nikumi." Souma told her.

"He's right. Be nice, Ikumi." Ariadne told Mito, sliding an arm through one of Mito's to pull her away from Mayumi. "Hey, Souma, isn't that the shop we came for?"

Souma turned, following Ariadne's line of sight. The shop was called Mozuya, and was filled with people while a cheery, overly chipper woman actively drew business in.

"Wha...?! The chain...you meant Mozuya?!" Mito demanded.

"You know it?" Souma asked.

"It's a really famous karaage shop in Kansai." Mito replied, before gesturing to the chipper woman. "And, she is Nakamozu Kinu. She's the head of Mozuya, a shop whose headquarters in Kyoto expanded to the whole Kansai region! They were the first in history to win the All Japan Karaage Convention for three consecutive years. Everyone says they'll surely win again this year."

"There's quite a lot of housewives shopping here." Souma remarked.

"Yes...it's even busier at night." Mayumi told him.

Ariadne caught sight of one of the packages being carried out of the shop, her hands going to her hips in thought.

"The packaging looks fashionable. I can see it being popular with women." Ariadne remarked.

"It is. They say there are a lot of people who take the train just to buy it." Mayumi confirmed.

"The store's appearance is nice, and there are a lot of salesgirls also, so it's really attractive. Oh...there's such a big line." Souma remarked.

It was then that Souma and Ariadne pegged a familiar face in the line. It was Tomita, the man trying to hide who he was with a trench coat, hat, and sunglasses.

"What are you doing, chairman?" Souma asked, approaching him.

"Souma-chan! No...I just thought I could help you out somehow." Tomita told him.

"Right...what's the disguise for?' Souma asked.

"This is enemy territory. It will be dangerous if they find out my identity." Tomita replied seriously.

Ariadne and Souma shared a look, Ariadne blinking back in confusion. Turning back to Tomita, they both asked the same question at the same time.

"Why?"

Of course, Tomita didn't answer them. Instead, he nearly had the pants scared off him when Mozuya's Nakamozu suddenly appeared behind him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have to be all secretive, you can just line up normally. Okay, Mr. Shopping District Chairman?" Ariadne never heard a man squeal louder than Tomita did just then. "Ah, are you his friends from the shopping district? Why don't you try a sample?"

Nakamozu held out a tray with samples on it for them to take one.

"Is it okay? Then I won't hold back!" Souma said, picking up one.

"_Merci_." Ariadne added, picking up one to hand to Mito before taking one for herself.

Popping the piece of chicken into her mouth, Ariadne was instantly hit by the lightly crisp coating and tender chicken inside. Ariadne rolled the flavor around on her tongue, trying to pinpoint the different spices they had used in the sauce.

"Wow! I wonder what they did to make them so tasty." Mayumi remarked.

"Well, you see...we use Omi chickens. They're a super high class breed, that's raised only on herbs! And the key factor is our secret soy-based sauce! We firmly rub the sauce, using grated apple as a base, and dozens of seasonings as well, into the chicken! And then we fry it, while letting it come in contact with the air, until it becomes crispy!" Nakamozu gushed. "Some people even call it "The best karaage on earth." Ohohoho!"

"Is it okay to tell us all that?" Souma asked.

"I don't mind at all! There's no way you can make it anyway!" Nakamozu retorted.

Ariadne looked up, snapped out of her contemplation. While Nakamozu was smiling and had been talking with a very polite, upbeat tone, Ariadne felt like she had just been insulted. From the look on Souma's face, he felt the same way. Nakamozu, though, merely turned her attention to Tomita.

"However, you sure are a shameless man...to think you're relying on women and children! You just watched how your clients went away. Don't you have any self-respect? If a sad man like you stood in front of my shop, it would hinder business." Nakamozu said, piling one insult on top of another.

Souma merely walked up to Tomita, laying a hand on his shoulder while Ariadne stood on his other side, hands on her hips.

"It seems you have a lot of confidence." Souma remarked.

"And if I'm not mistaken, I'm sure I heard an insult towards our cooking ability somewhere in there." Ariadne added, smiling pleasantly.

"Right. So, if we can make a karaage more delicious than yours in the shopping district, it would be a disgrace to Mozuya!" Souma added, smiling a goofy grin.

Just like that, Nakamozu's air and tone changed, her expression taking a dark twist as she drew close to Souma.

"You seem to be skilled at talking big, boy. Don't try to get smart with me, you idiot. What can a bunch of brats like you do?" Nakamozu demanded.

"Oh my! Now that's unprofessional of you." Ariadne replied back, grinning in a not-so-innocent way.

Nakamozu took a moment to calm down, her expression reverting back to the pleasant one she had been wearing while talking to customers. Raising her hand fan, she fanned herself, smiling lightly.

"Well...a weak shopping district, with no competitive power or originality, can only die out, right? I hope to have your patronage, at Mozuya from now on." Nakamozu told them before walking away.

Ariadne found it funny how blind the woman could be and laughed to herself the whole way back to Yukihira's. Walking into the restaurant, Ariadne finally let a laugh out, making the other three stare at her.

"That woman obviously underestimates the people in the shopping district. People who are desperate enough, can pull off anything." Ariadne remarked as Mayumi took a seat at the bar.

"She's got a point." Mito agreed. "For now, shall we try a recipe that's similar to theirs?"

"I guess so! Ari, can you mix a marinade?" Souma asked.

"Yeah, sure."

Ariadne head into the kitchen, quickly gathering what she would need, plucking one spice after another off the shelf.

"Alright! Let's overthrow Mozuya. Let's start making test dishes!" Souma said, grabbing some chicken. "I'll cut the meat into random sizes."

"Here's a sauce of grated apple, onion, and ginger. It's just a base that we can build from." Ariadne added, setting a bowl beside Souma.

"That's great. We'll pickle the chicken in the sauce thoroughly, so that the flavor soaks into it. Since this is s test, I'll fry them right now." Souma told them.

"I'm sure at Mozuya, they let the chicken soak in the marinade for, at least, ten hours." Ariadne remarked.

"Ten hours?! That long!?" Mayumi asked.

"You want to make sure the flavor gets nice and deep into the chicken." Ariadne explained. "There are some place, especially with BBQ in the southern states of America, that let meat soak in a marinade for much longer than that."

"Oh..."

Mayumi stood back and watched as Ariadne sat a bowl of potato starch in front of Souma.

"And then I'll coat them uniformly, with potato starch. Dumping on the extra flour is the secret to make them crispy." Souma continued, Ariadne heating oil for the fry while he finished with the chicken. When it was heated to the right temperature, he dropped the chicken into the oil to fry up. "Here we go...test dish one is done!"

Souma scoped the chicken out of the oil and set them on a cool rack to drain of excess oil and to cool. After given a moment, each of them took a bite. Mayumi was instantly surprised by the delicious flavor of the chicken.

"It's delicious! This is also really delicious, Yukihira-kun!" she exclaimed.

"But you know...this dish's impact loses against Mozuya's dish." Souma replied.

"The sauce is lacking. Their's...soy sauce, garlic, and so many other spices. I can only imagine that it took them years to perfect that blend, and that's what we have to match." Ariadne remarked, rolling the flavor of their karaage over her tongue.

"That's it! We don't really have to fight with karaage! We could use other meat, like beef or pork...there are many options!" Mito told them.

"Hmm...but if we don't go against their main dish, we can't get the clients back." Souma replied.

"How about "A5 beef"? With that, you'd win with the ingredients' quality and popularity for sure, you know?" Mito suggested.

"But...that's expensive, right?" Souma asked.

"On behalf of our friendship, the Mito Group will sell you the best ingredients, and ignore the cost! Wait a bit! I'll calculate the price." Mito told them.

"I have a feeling it's still going to be pricy." Ariadne whispered lowly to Souma.

"Ermmm...one hundred grams for thirty-five hundred yen." Mito told them after a moment.

Ariadne let out an awkward chuckle as Souma hung his head for a moment. Back in France, that would have been nearly thirty euros for just one hundred grams. Considering it was a small shopping district with businesses that weren't rich, it wasn't worth it.

"No thanks then." Souma told Mito.

"Do-don't hold back because of its cheap price!" Mito retorted.

"No, umm, I'm not holding back." Souma insisted.

"Ikumi, this is a small shopping district. To the middle class people living here, that's still too expensive. They aren't like the big name suppliers and restaurants that your family works with." Ariadne explained while Souma turned to Mayumi.

"Kurase, any ideas?" Souma asked.

"Eeh...! Ermmm...ma-making it shopping district-like...maybe!" Mayumi suggested. "Ah, but...ermmm, I don't have any solid suggestions, sorry."

The suggestion didn't give Souma any idea until after they had fiddled with the recipe and made a few more test dishes. By then, it was later in the afternoon and noise outside the restaurant increased as middle schoolers started past, heading home after school activities.

"Middle schoolers, hm?" Souma remarked.

"There's a lot of them, even though it's a holiday." Mito replied.

"They're coming back from their clubs. There's a lot of schools around here. High schoolers and college students gather here too." Souma told her.

"It would really help us get more clients in the district if we could think of something they could easily pick up and carry while they pass through." Ariadne remarked, watching the students.

It was then that an idea slapped Souma right in the face. With a sudden yell of "That's it!", Souma had Ariadne jolting and leaning away from him, shocked by the suddenly outburst.

"What's it?" Ariadne asked.

"That's it! I was being too dense...we don't have to fight them on their territory!" Souma declared.

"Then...it's A5 meat's turn?" Mito asked, hopefully.

"No, we're making karaage." Souma replied.

"But you said we're not fighting on their territory!" Mito complained.

"We're not. We just have to think about things they can't do. Things that we can do with the same dish, because we're in a shopping district! The most delicious way of eating karaage...we're creating the thing that will decide this war!"

Souma didn't explain anything else to them until Tomita was was present. Only then did he explain what he meant.

"What's the tastiest way to eat karaage?" Souma asked.

"Freshly made, right?" Ariadne asked.

"Right! But, Mozuya's dishes aren't always like that." Souma replied.

"Eh...what do you mean?" Mayumi asked.

"For the customers that take them by train, they put it inside tightly-sealed packages so the smell doesn't leak out, right? And you can't just start eating inside that tidy station. Those dishes aren't meant to be eaten right away...but when you get home!" Souma pointed out.

"You're right...when my mom bought Mozuya's karaage, it got cold and we had to reheat it in the microwave." Mayumi confirmed.

"But doing that, the karaage loses some of it's flavor and a lot of the crispiness." Ariadne pointed out.

"Right. You're not bound by that in a shopping district! I mean, there's even places that advertise by saying you can eat their food while walking. You bite into it when it's just been fried and hot! Karaage really has to be like that! Moreover, there are a lot of schools, from primary to college, around here. The streets will be full of people wanting to buy it, and eat right away! Like Ari said...something they can just pick up and eat on the go!" Souma explained.

"I see! There's no need to make meals you cna take home...those so-called "HMR's"...we have to make use of our local advantage!" Mito exclaimed.

"Exactly! The keywords are "karaage you can eat while walking!". With this, we have a chance of winning, right?!"

Ariadne admitted that it had potential.

With that in mind, they moved on to how to make their karaage where it could be easy to carry and eat on the go. They started off with cutting and folding recycled milk cartoons into a hand-sized carrier, and putting two different types of karaage in that. While good, it didn't have the plumpness of Mozuya's. Mayumi suggested putting the karaage on a skewer, but there were already several places that sold karaage that way. Tomita even suggested a karaage onigiri.

Which was shot down quickly.

They needed something uniquely them.

"A-and I thought this could work. I mean, karaage and rice are the strongest combination." Tomita remarked.

"Wait...novelty and impact, easy to carry with great flavor...I've got an idea!" Ariadne exclaimed, just as Souma caught on to the same thing as her.

Grinning, the two explained to the others. Hope spread through the others as they listened. It would take a lot of work to do what they needed, and they only had a short time. With that in mind, they got to work.

It was going to be a very interesting break.

-0-0-0-0-

Over the next three days, Ariadne and her friends worked over time, putting their dish together and selling it. As each day passed, more and more people showed up to buy one of their special karaage rolls. While Mito focused on the sauce and the preparations for the meat, Souma focused on frying the meat and the special chili sauce they added in the end. That left Ariadne with the making of the lightly cooked batter and herbs that they wrapped the karaage in and the stamping of the sumire flower on the side fo the roll.

On their second day of selling the dish, Ariadne, Souma, and Mito found the shop bustling with people lining up to buy the dish. Ariadne found it a little funny, though, watching Tomita try to keep up with her, Souma and Mito, since he would be the one selling it in his shop after they went back to school after their holiday.

Half way through a rush, Souma caught sight of Nakamozu. She had come to see why her profits had been dropping over the last two days. Leaving the fryer and batter to Tomita, who turned white as a ghost, Souma and Ariadne went out to meet with Nakamozu.

"Oooh? Aren't you the people from Mozuya?!" Souma called, making Nakamozu jump and turn to them as Souma taunted her with her own words to them. "You don't have to be secretive."

"You can just line up normally." Ariadne added.

"Since when were you planning this?" Nakamozu demanded, facing them.

"Hm? Three days ago." Souma replied. "The hardware store provided the cooking utensils, Sumire's mark was made by the sheet metal worker!"

"The ingredients come from the vegetable grocer, and the butcher, handled by our very lovely Ikumi. The fliers, designed by sweet Mayumi, and the wrappings were printed by the printer. Everything was prepared in this shopping district overnight." Ariadne added.

"How could this be?!" Nakamozu asked, looking around the street at the several shops that were doing business because of the karaage roll.

"Mozuya lady, you said this, right? "A place with no competitive power or originality can only die out"...was it?" Souma asked, looking at Ariadne, who nodded. "It has it. Our shopping district has power!"

"Shut up...I've had enough of your insolent talk! So what if you have that karaage? Sooner or later, you'll be crushed by Mozuya!" Nakamozu insisted.

"If you're going to say that much, then try some too." Ariadne replied, a few middle schoolers offering her some.

"They're right...you let us try some of yours last time, so try one of ours too." Souma insisted, giving her a freshly made one to try.

One bite was all it took to show her that even the shopping district could compete with a big name brand like Mozuya. With her admitted defeat, Ariadne and Souma felt like they had done a good job. Souma thanked each of them for helping him with the whole project. With Mayumi's agreement to work part-time at Tomita's shop in order to help out with the karaage rolls, Souma and Ariadne could call their holiday to an end.

The next morning, Ariadne waved goodbye to the new friends she made and headed back to Totsuki with Souma. With their holiday over, it was time to move on to the next event of their school lives.

Whatever it was, she was sure it would be challenging and fun.

END

Kyandi: Now it's on to the Autumn Selection!

Ariadne: You're just ready to show off the next recipe you researched.

Kyandi: Yes, I am! I put a lot of work into this recipe and even tried it out myself.

Ariadne: Any good?

Kyandi: It was delicious!

Ariadne: You have too much time to cook now.

Kyandi: A lot of people have too much time to cook now. It makes my writing about cooking more realistic.

Ariadne: True. Shall we move on then?

Kyandi: Yes! Everyone, please enjoy and review.

Ariadne: We'll return as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


	9. Selections for the Autumn Election

Kyandi: Hello, lovelies!

Ariadne: We've come baring a new chapter for you all!

Kyandi: Yeah, I did a little bit of a...bad thing.

Ariadne: I don't really think it was all that bad.

Kyandi: It kind of is. I slipped in a litte, itty-bitty, dirty joke in this chapter.

Ariadne: I honestly don't see why you think it's so bad. They've gotten eight chapters to see what my personality is like. It was bound to happen sooner or later.

Kyandi: Yeah, that's kind of true. She's likely to make more of them down the line.

Ariadne: So brace yourselves, people. They won't be that bad, but they will be there.

Kyandi: And with that warning, everyone, please enjoy and review.

Ariadne: Kyandi-sama does not own Shokugeki no Soma.

Chapter 9 Selections for the Autumn Election

"The Autumn Election?"

When Ariadne had started the day, she had never thought it would find her playing ping pong with her dorm mates, or finding out about the Autumn Selection.

"Yes." Isshiki replied.

"And Megumi was selected?" Ariadne asked.

"She was indeed." Isshiki confirmed. "Out of the six hundred and twenty-eight first years, over one hundred candidates were selected taking in account their results in the training camp and their future prospects. Out of those, we in the Elite Ten Council narrowed them down to forty. Inside those forty...there's Ibusaki-kun, Marui-kun, Souma-kun, and Ari-kun!"

Ariadne blinked in surprise, her head tilting to one side. She hadn't, in her opinion, really excelled at the training camp. She didn't see what she could have done in order to get herself selected.

"Wait, Marui!? I understand Ibusaki being there, but...Marui!?" Yuuki exclaimed.

"Wow...to think four Polar Star members are participating!" Ryoko added.

"We did it, Tadokoro! Let's do our best!" Souma insisted.

Megumi, however, was already freaking out, her body trembling as she thought about the selection. Ariadne hid a smile and laugh behind a single hand. Even after everything that happened at the training camp, Megumi would always be Megumi.

"I see, I...wasn't chosen." Yuuki said, disappointed.

"It's too soon to feel dejected, Yoshino-kun! Sixty people can participate in the election! The last twenty...will be decided in future meetings. Yoshino-kun and Sakaki-kun, you both are between the candidates that will fight for the remaining places!" Isshiki told them.

"Yuuki did you hear that?!" Ryoko asked, Yuuki already in tears. "Oh, my...it's too early to cry out of joy, you know?"

"I-I'm not crying!" Yuuki insisted.

"Honey, these salty little things trickling down your cheeks, say otherwise." Ariadne teased, swiping one tear up off Yuuki's cheek to stick the finger tip baring it into her mouth.

Yuuki waved her arms at Ariadne, her cheeks puffing out.

"I'm not crying!" she insisted, wiping her eyes. "Hehe...If you're in Totsuki, you just want to be in the elections. Megumi, Ari, Yukihira, I'll definitely go too, so wait for me!"

"Yeah!" Souma agreed.

"Hmm...looks like I need to consider some new recipes." Ariadne remarked.

"We haven't even found out what the theme is yet!" Yuuki replied.

"That doesn't matter. You can never be too prepared." Ariadne pointed out. "So I'm off to the market."

Waving over her shoulder, Ariadne headed out of the room, already humming to herself. Souma left not long after her, lost in his own thoughts. While out on his walk, Souma found himself being dragged to the school by a group of guys. There, just outside the closed doors of an office, he found Ariadne grinning up into the faces of two nervous looking boys.

"Ari?" Souma called.

Ariadne pulled her eyes from the boys in front of her, the two heaving silent sighs when she was no longer focused on her. When her eyes landed on Souma, she raised an eyebrow in questioning.

"Oh, they dragged you here, too, Souma?" she asked.

"Yeah. Know what's going on?" Souma replied.

"Not really. They haven't told me anything." Ariadne gave a shrug of her shoulders before turning to the boys she had been grinning at moments ago. "Care to tell us what's up, now?"

"He'll see you now." one of them said simply, turning to the doors.

Souma and Ariadne exchanged looks as the boy pushed the double doors open. The person sitting at the desk on the other side, looked up as the doors opened.

"You're finally here." he called, gesturing for them to enter.

Souma and Ariadne stepped into the room, the doors closing behind them. The guy behind the desk, in Ariadne's opinion, reminded her of the yankee characters she would find in manga, all blinged out, wearing a leopard print under shirt and grin that could almost be considered sinister. He introduced himself as the Elite Ten ninth seat, Eizan Etsuya.

"Sumire's karaage roll, that was a pretty interesting dish." he said, making Ariadne and Souma share another look, this one of surprise. "I was the one who produced and did the branding for Mozuya's expansion to Tokyo. I've heard that you two rebuilt the shopping district. And this is why I called you. Work under me, if you do that I'll make it so that you never miss a meal."

Almost instantly, Ariadne had to snap a hand over her mouth as a sudden bout of giggles bubbled up past her lips. The grin on Eizan's face faltered for a moment as Ariadne waved a hand, getting her laughter under control. Straightening her back, a grin now on her face, Ariadne braced her hands on her hips.

"Pardon me if it sounds rude, but...you've got to be kidding us." she remarked.

"My goal is to succeed my family's restaurant, so I have no intention to work under anyone else." Souma said, agreeing with Ariadne.

"And I have no intentions, what so ever, to ever work under someone else. I have better things to do with my time." Ariadne added brightly.

"Haa...well, I thought you wouldn't join me...however, you say those kind of things too, huh. You're bound to your own little box, the kind of cook that is satisfied as long as they can proclaim their true artisan spirit. It's only a poor and boring shop, am I wrong? Was your will pulled down because you were born in such a house? Hey?" Eizan replied, obviously trying to provoke them.

"You're being awful assumptive, aren't you?" Ariadne replied. "You wouldn't say half of what you have if you only knew."

The last part was sadly lowly, as if she was saying it to herself, so only Souma really heard what she said. He ignored it, though, turning back to look at Eizan.

"That's some comments you're making, but aren't you a cook, too?" Souma asked.

"No. I'll subdue every cook. The scenery we're looking at is different. Sorry for taking your time, you can go back. I've decided already." Eizan said, getting to his feet.

"Decided?" Souma questioned, sharing a look with Ariadne out of the side of his eyes, the girl giving him a puzzled look in response.

"Yukihira Souma, Sinclair Ariadne," Ariadne glanced over her shoulder as Eizan walked past them. "The Autumn Election will mark the end of your "upstart". I won't forgive anyone who dirties my career."

Dirties his career...

Ariadne couldn't help the grin that curled her lips. Turning on her heel, Eizan stiffened as Ariadne was suddenly in his personal space, staring up into his face with grin curling her lips as she lowered her eyelids to half mast, peering up at him through the fan of long lashes. He only stiffened more when her hand came up, two perfectly manicured fingers tracing the under side of his chin.

"Say whatever you wish, but you are wrong about one thing," Ariadne purred, really turning on the charm. "I haven't even **started** my upstart yet. So give me your worst. I love a good challenge."

Giving Eizan a wink and tap on the end of his nose, Ariadne turned on her heel, flicking her hair over her shoulder and whacking Eizan in the chest with it. Eizan frowned as she strutted to the door.

"Souma, come on. You can help me with my ingredient shopping." Ariadne called.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Souma replied, shoving his hands into his pockets as he followed her to the door.

Eizan grit his teeth when he caught a glimpse of a grin on Souma's face, as if the younger boy found Ariadne's remarks towards him funny. The two could laugh it off now, but Eizan was going to make them regret they didn't take him seriously.

Starting with the Autumn Election.

-0-0-0-0-

With the end of the first term, the list of those selected for the Autumn Election was released. In the end, a total of seven Polar Star members were selected to take part.

Souma, Megumi, Ariadne, Shun, Zenji, Ryoko, and Yuuki.

The last of which was so happy, she burst into tears.

It also turned out that both Aldini brothers, Mito and Alice and her attendant, Ryo, had made the selection, too. Ariadne went to greet Alice when, smacking Ryo on the back while demanding he respect her more, the girl walked past.

"Alice!"

Alice greeted Ariadne as the blue-haired girl threw her arms around her neck. Alice was one of the few people Ariadne had met since coming to the school, that had, in a short amount of time, grown use to Ariadne's more "hands-on" affection. She let Ariadne hug her and didn't seem to be bothered by it in the least. Ariadne gave Ryo a pat on the head in greeting before she returned to her friends, blowing Alice and Ryo a kiss along the way.

She rejoined her dorm mates just as Yuuki pulled out her phone to call Fumio and give the old woman the news.

"Hm? That "A" and "B"...what do they mean?" Souma asked idly, making Ariadne look up at the board where the names of those taking part in the Autumn Election, were listed.

"I'm not sure. I'm sure they'll tell us sooner or later." Ariadne told him.

The information came sooner.

"Everyone. Hello!" Souma and Ariadne looked up as Kawashima Urara, the girl that usually announced at Food Wars, appeared above them in a flashy show. "I will be your host for the Autumn Election. My name's Kawashima Urara. Congratulations to all those participating in the election! You'll receive an official notification later on, but allow me to explain the competition format in a nutshell! It should be obvious if you look at the board, that the sixty chosen people are divided in two blocks, A and B. For the Election, we'll first have a preliminary for each block, those who get the highest rank on each block will earn the right to participate in the main tournament! Ermm, then, I'll give you a message from Eizan-senpai of the Executive Committee."

Ariadne and Souma's eyes met when Eizan's name was said, both quickly turning their attention back to Urara.

"For the Election, many VIP, that is, leaders of the culinary world, will come as guests. It's the perfect chance to demonstrate your skills, however, shall you display an unsightly dish, your future as a cook might as well be over. Well, do the best you can. That's it." Urara told them, bringing the explanation to a close.

"Well, that was brief." Ariadne remarked, perking up when Alice claimed a seat on a bench near them, Souma turning to look at her, as well.

"Nakiri's not participating in the Election?" Souma asked Alice.

"That's right. The Totsuki Elite Ten is in charge of the Autumn Election every year. In other words, Erina is one of the festival's organizers. Ah-ah...it will be a while before I can confront Erina." Alice complained.

"You'll just have to settle yourself with the rest of us this time, Alice." Ariadne replied, smiling at the other girl. "From what I can see of the list, there are quite a few interesting people lined up."

Alice simply waved that off. There were very few people on the list that she actually cared about. Souma and Ariadne just happened to be among those that caught her interest.

"Yukihira-kun, do you remember what I said on my way out, after the two hundred meals?" Alice asked, looking up at Souma.

"Yeah!" Souma replied.

"That's good. Did you know this, Yukihira-kun? That almost all of the current Elite Ten members participated in the main tournament of the Election. In other words...the Elite Ten successors will come from among these people!" Alice told him. "Of course, nothing will begin if we don't win here. I hope the day comes when you two, Erina, and I fight over the Elite Ten."

"I don't know about that." Ariadne said as Alice got to her feet. "I've never been one to like the limelight and the leadership position."

Alice looked back at Ariadne, who merely smiled back at her and gave her a wave. Alice, just like everyone else currently near her, couldn't tell if Ariadne was being serious, or if the girl really didn't care about making the Elite Ten.

And Ariadne preferred it that way.

With the announcement done, their summer break officially started, giving all those participating in the Election, a month in which to train and prepare. Ariadne headed back to the dorm with her dorm mates, and was greeted at the door by a naked Isshiki in an apron. By this point, Ariadne couldn't even bring herself to notice anymore.

One accidental flash was it took for Ariadne to no longer be curious.

All she would say was...Isshiki had a reason to be very comfortable and confident in his skin.

"Welcome back, everyone!" Isshiki greeted with a big smile. "Fumio-san says that today we'll have an anticipatory celebration! Now, go to the dining hall!"

Ariadne fell back with Souma and Isshiki as they brought up the rear.

"Isshiki-senpai! Umm...what kind of person is Eizan-senpai from the Elite Ten?" Souma asked.

"Eizan-kun?" Isshiki made a thoughtful look, considering the answer carefully before answering with an answer that Ariadne, herself, had come to. "He's a yankee."

Ariadne slapped a hand over her mouth, trying to hold in a laugh as Isshiki gave them a look that said he was proud of his answer. Souma raised an eyebrow at Ariadne who waved a hand. It was hard not to laugh at Isshiki sometimes.

"He's had a famous armed group since his days in the middle school section. He forces those who lose to him to obey, and so he's kept increasing in followers. By the time he entered high school, he already had one of the most influential groups in the whole academy." Isshiki continued. "However, his abilities are sound and solid...he's the exact definition of an intellectual-type yakuza, and he is merciless to those who go against him. But why are you asking about that?"

Isshiki watched as Souma and Ariadne exchanged looked before both of them shrugged. A grin curled Ariadne's lips as they continued down the hall.

"No real reason! It's nothing important." Souma told Isshiki, though the older boy had a feeling that that was a fib. "Whoa, that banner...it's huge!"

Ariadne let out a little chuckle as she caught sight of the huge banner that stretched down the hall. It was almost big enough to put a billboard to shame. It was easy to tell that Fumio was proud of those of them that had been picked for the Autumn Election.

"I guess Fumio-san is in the kitchen?" Isshiki muttered, leading the way past the banner and towards the kitchen.

Ariadne and Souma followed. When they entered the kitchen, Ariadne came to a stop, blinking at the man standing in the kitchen. Even when he turned to Souma and demanded that he help out in the kitchen, Souma didn't stop to think, merely did as told. Ariadne stood in the doorway, hands on her hips, wondering how long it would take Souma to stop and question the situation.

A minute later, she got her answer.

"Wait, I just started helping without thinking, like at Yukihira, but...! What the heck are you doing here!?"

Ariadne heaved a sigh, giving her head a shake as an amused smile curled her lips. Leave to Souma to be the one that spaced.

"What? You know him?" Fumio asked, looking between Souma and the man.

"W-who is he?" Megumi asked.

"An old boy of Totsuki Academy and the Polar Star Dorm." Fumio replied.

"A Totsuki old boy!?" Souma repeated.

"Must be because of the generation gap...to think you wouldn't know Saiba Jouichirou, the second seat of the Elite Ten." Fumio said, heaving a sigh.

"Sa-Saiba?" Souma repeated.

"Ah, the rice should be done soon, Souma." the man called.

"Shuddup! Just explain this, Pops!" Souma demanded.

"They're father and child!?"

The last part came from Fumio, Ryoko and Yuuki all at the same time.

By this point, Ariadne was in the background, bracing a hand on the wall as she fought not to drop to the floor in laughter. She was barely managing to keep her laughter to herself, trying hard not to draw attention to herself.

After making sure that the food was good, they all relocated to the dining hall, Ariadne remaining by the door, trying to deploy the method of "out of sight, out of mind". Souma, on the other hand, was trying to process what he had just learned and wasn't fairing too well.

"Pops is one of Totsuki's old boys, he was in the Polar Star Dorm, and he was in the Elite Ten, too...I'll really need...some more energy to take all of this in at once..." Souma said, looking like he was burnt out.

"Oh...Yukihira is shaken up for once." Yuuki remarked.

"Should I say...as expected from Yukihira-kun's father?" Ryoko asked.

It would stand to reason that his father was the only person that could really shake Souma up.

"Saiba Jouichirou." Isshiki called, stepping up to Souma's father.

"Hmm...you know about me?" Jouichirou asked.

"Yes...I have seen your name in previous years' documents. The "Wandering Chef" who used his skills in many different famous restaurants around the world! It was a name so famous it was plastered across every cooking magazine at the time. However, he suddenly disappeared from the business' front lines. For those who know of him, he's a legend." Isshiki replied. "I am Isshiki Satoshi, the current seventh seat of the Elite Ten. It's an honor to meet you, Chef Saiba."

"Yeah...I currently go by the last name of Yukihira, so just call me Jouichirou."

Jouichirou took Isshiki's offered hand and gave it a shake Ryoko and Yuuki standing behind him, amazed that he was not fazed by Isshiki's naked apron. Yuuki turned to Souma, then.

"Yukihira! You really didn't know anything about this?" she asked.

"Well...I only recently found out that he was working overseas. Ah, but, come to think of it, when I was little, we sometimes received calls from people talking in foreign languages, and there was a time when a lot of pictures surfaced of him with foreign people." Souma replied.

How this boy was able to come up with new recipes and solutions on the fly, was beyond Ariadne.

It was then that Jouichirou's eyes found Ariadne by the door. The moment his eyes landed on her, he perked up, opening his mouth, but stopped when, with a grin on her face, Ariadne silently raised a finger before her lips, giving him a wink.

"Something wrong, Pops?"

Jouichirou turned to Souma when the boy spoke. For a brief moment, his eyes returned to Ariadne, before he turned back to his son and gave a shake of his head.

"Nothing." Jouichirou replied, raising to his feet. "Now, then! The food will keep on coming, so let's have a toast!"

With that, the celebration started. Everyone dug into the dishes, the taste so amazing that even Ariadne ate more than her stomach could reasonably hold. They also got a look at where Souma got his tendencies for horrible dishes from.

Hint...it wasn't his mother.

Ariadne even got to see a picture of Jouichirou and Doujima from when they were second years in high school, the picture showing the two sitting on the front steps of the Polar Star Dorm. Fumio painted them a picture of the two as the ones that single-handedly built up the Polar Star dorm and all of it's connected lands. The old woman even went on to compare Doujima to a loyal dog and Jouichirou to a stray cat because, where Doujima sent letters and cards and never failed to do so consistently, Jouichirou would just show up out of the blue, stay for a short while, and then vanish once more.

Ariadne had to agree that it was a fair comparison.

When the celebration was over, the students scattered to their respective rooms. Ariadne helped with clean up before she headed up to her room. By the time she passed through the lobby to the main stairs, everyone else was already in their rooms. She had just stepped onto the bottom most step when she heard her name being called.

"Ariadne Sinclair." Ariadne came to a stop and turned to find Jouichirou standing in a nearby doorway, his arms crossed as he grinned at her. He was speaking English instead of Japanese. "I didn't know you were going to come here, too."

Ariadne smiled back at him, bracing her hands on her hips as she gave a shrug of her shoulders.

"Yes, well...I wasn't given much choice. Given how things have been the last few years, I would have preferred to stay in Marseille." Ariadne replied. "But, you know how everyone back home is. Reputation this, image that."

Jouichirou chuckled as Ariadne rolled her eyes.

"You haven't changed one bit. Well...personality wise. Still flirting with the girls?" he asked.

He watched as one of her cheeks puffed out and she braced her hands on her hips, acting like she was offended, when she wasn't.

"You're one to talk, _un chat errant_." she retorted.

"Oh, come on. You're going to start with that stray cat business, too?" Jouichirou asked as she called him "stray cat" in French.

"You have to admit, it's a pretty fair comparison. How many times have you visited in the last four years?" Ariadne shot back.

"Uh..."

"Exactly."

Jouichirou ran a hand through his hair, chuckling sheepishly. She had caught him, and she knew it. The girl, he knew, had always been a rather clever one. Even when she had been nothing more than a toddler clinging to his leg, demanding his attention. Ariadne grinned at him, like she knew where his thoughts were.

"It's still great seeing you again, but, do me a favor." Ariadne said, making him raise an eyebrow at her. "Don't tell anyone that you know me. Especially don't tell anyone **how** we know each other. I'm trying to keep a low profile, and if anyone knew I was connected to a former second seat, I'd have all sorts of people nosing into my business."

He could understand not wanting others to stick their noses where they weren't wanted. He had no reason to spill her secrets, so he agreed.

"Got it." he told her.

"Thanks. Now, I have a bunch of trail dishes I have to get started on tomorrow, so I'm going to bed. Have to hit the market early, right? I assume you'll still be here tomorrow?"

"Yeah. You get on to bed. Don't forget to call Tallie." Jouichirou told her.

"I never do." Ariadne replied, turning to head up the stairs, waving a hand over her shoulder.

Ariadne stretched her arms over her head as she reached the top of the stairs and started off down the hall. It was always nice to see a familiar face, but, for the time being, she had other things to concern herself with. She would be up early the next morning to hit the market as soon as it opened. She planned to take advantage of the break as much as she could.

After all, who knew what the Autumn Election would bring.

END

Ariadne: I told you the joke wasn't that bad.

Kyandi: I suppose not, but you have to admit, for him to be **that** comfortable walking around like that, he's got to be confident in what he's got.

Ariadne: That, or he simply doesn't care or notice.

Kyandi: Yeeaaahhhh...Isshiki, despite how he acts sometimes, doesn't seem that stupid to me.

Ariadne: No, but he is that care-free.

Kyandi: I suppose. Anyway, I have another story to update, so...

Ariadne: We need to wrap this up?

Kyandi: Yes. Everyone, please enjoy and review.

Ariadne: We'll return as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


End file.
